Judgment

K. Ramaswamy, J.-These five appeals by special leave arise from the Division Bench judgment of the Allahabad High Court, made on October 28, 1986 in C.M. Writ Petition No. 1244 of 1984 and batch. The primary question is as to the constitutionality of the Uttar Pradesh Sri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983 (U.P. Act No. 29/83) (for short, the "Act"), made for the management of the Temple of renowned Lord Vishwanath, otherwise known as Sri Adi Visheshwara of Kashi. By and large, every Hindu believes that without a visit to kashi for bath in the river Ganges and prayer offered to Lord Shiva, life is incomplete and meaningless and every endeavour is made to visit kashi at least once in life. The idol of Lord Shiva at Varanasi on the bank holy river Ganges is one of the five jyotir lingas in India believed to be self-incarnated (swayam bhuva); other four, viz., (1) Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu State; (2) Srisailam on the banks of river krishna in Andhra Pradesh; (3) Dwarika in Gujarat State; and (4) Onkar in Madhya Pradesh on the bank of river Narmada, are believed to be jyotir lingas according to Hindu mythology. Hindus believe that Lord Brahma is the Creator, Lord Vishnu is the P