Judgment

B. K. MUKHERJEA, J..

These two connected matters are taken up together for the sake of convenience and may be disposed of by one and the same judgment. Petition No. 405 of 1953 has been presented to this court under Article 32 of the Constitution and the petitioners are the Mahants or superiors of two ancient and well-known religious institutions of Orissa, both of which have endowments of considerable value situated within and outside the Orissa State. An Act, known as the Orissa Hindu Religious Endowments Act, was passed by the Orissa legislative Assembly functioning under the Government of India Act, 1935, in the year 1939 and it received the assent of the Governor-General on 31-8-1939.

The object of the Act; as stated in the preamble, is "to provide for the better administration and governance of certain Hindu religious endowments" and the expression "religious endowment" has been defined comprehensively in the Act as meaning all property belonging to, or given or endowed for the support of Maths or temples or for the performance of any service or charity connected therewith. The whole scheme of the Act is to vest the control and supervision of public temples and Maths in