Point of Law: Article 162 of Constitution extent of executive power of State.

ORDER

These two petitions seek to lay a challenge to the Government Order dated 13.12.2022 whereby, the Respondent-Mr. P.S. Vastrad, a retired IAS officer, has been appointed as the Administrator for the Mutt & the institutions run by it. W.P.No.25316/2022 is filed by the Vidya Peetha, represented by its President, and the Mutt is represented by its Pontiff Dr. Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru through the GPA holder Sri. Basavaprabhuswamigalu. W.P.No.25318/2022 is filed by three individuals who claim to be the devotees of Mutt.

2. The operative portion of the order reads as under :

The Government specifically mentions that this Order has been made in exercise of the power availing under Articles 162 & 31A of the Constitution of India inter alia for safeguarding the movable & immovable properties of the Mutt and to prevent misappropriation of funds of the institution and further, to conduct the overall management effectively inasmuch as the Pontiff has been facing criminal cases is in judicial custody since 1.9.2022.

3. After service of notice, the State & its officials have entered appearance through the learned AGA and their case is argued by the learned Advocate General. The Administrator being arrayed as Respondent eo nomine, is represented by an advocate on record and his case is argued by a learned Senior Advocate. With the leave of court, amended Petitions have also been filed from the side of Petitioners. The Respondents have filed their Written Versions/Statement of Objections resisting the Writ Petitions. Since these cases have a cognate fact matrix, with the consent of the Bar, they are clubbed & heard together.

4. There is another case in W.P.No.2331/2023 filed by the Pontiff alone laying a challenge to the order dated 15.12.2022 passed by the learned II Addl. District & Session Judge, Chitradurga, whereby he has been ‘restrained from exercising the Powers or discharging the duties of SJM Mutt and other institutions running under the said Mutt as a Pontiff and head of the institution pending conclusion of trial.’ This order is made under section 8(2) of the Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988, (hereafter ‘1988 Act’). This case too was heard along with these two Writ Petitions. However, the contentions canvassed being essentially in the domain of Criminal Jurisprudence, a separate judgment is being handed, keeping in view the avenue availing for its challenge and such other relevant factors.

5. FACTS IN BRIEF:

(a) Petitioner-Mutt originally established by Allamaprabhu, a 12th-century mystic saint and a poet who prolifically composed Vachanaas in Kannada. This saint and his order propagated the unitary consciousness of Self and Shiva, being the prominent patrons of the Lingayat movement that reshaped medieval Karnataka. Later, this Mutt was rejuvenated in the 16th century by another saint of great repute Sriman Niranjan Jagadguru Mahaswami and since then, it has been conducting anna daasoha & akshara daasoha to all sections of the society regardless of religion, region, race, caste, gender, place of birth or the like. By a long & committed yeoman service, it has carved out a niche for itself. Several educational institutions having been founded are being run successfully under the aegis of Mutt since decades.

(b) It is pertinent to state that, in Karnataka, several such Veerashaiva/Lingayat Mutts have been relentlessly providing education, professional, vocational & traditional to lakhs of people on affordable costs and that thousands of students prosecute their studies with free boarding & lodging facilities, sans discrimination on any grounds whatsoever. Nobody can justifiably dispute this. It is incongruous not to acknowledge the enormous contribution made by the Veerashaivas/Lingayats in general and their Mutts in particular, inter alia to the field of education. Siddhaganga Mutt, Suttur Mutt & Murugh