The pujari of a temple has no inheritable right to worship and, therefore, the right to sue cannot devolve upon his legal heirs.

1. - This writ petition has been filed by the petitioners Shri Geeta Mandir Trust, Kamla Colony, Bikaner and two of the trustees Har Bhagwan S/O Botha Ram and Anil Kumar S/O Ram Chandra against LRs. of late Sh. Dwarda Das, the pujari of the temple, who died on 20.9.2012 being aggrieved by the order dated 12.3.2013 passed by the learned Additional Civil Judge (Junior Division), Bikaner in Civil Original Suit No. 418 of 2009, Dwarka Das v. Shri Geeta Mandir Trust and ors. whereby the learned trial Court in the suit for injunction filed by the respondent Dwarka Das, Pujari of temple trust known as Shri Geeta Mandir Trust at Bikaner, held that right to sue survives in the two sons of deceased Dwarka Das, namely, Rajendra Kumar and Basant Kumar and therefore, they deserve to be brought on record upon death of Pujari Dwarka Das on 20.9.2012.

2. The learned counsel for the petitioners -Temple Trust, Mr. Abhinav Jain relying upon the decision of this Court in the case of Shri Pratapmaj Dharewa Dadabari Trust v. Ganpat Das and ors.,- SBCWP No. 1404 of 2012 decided on 4.4.2013 submitted that the Pujari of the temple has no inheritable right and therefore, the learned trial Court has erred in holding that the right to sue survives in the sons of the deceased Pujari Dwarka Das and consequently, instead of dismissing the suit itself having abated, the learned trial Court has erred in holding that the sons of the deceased Dwarka Das had right to continue the suit in question, which was filed for injunction against the temple trust.

3. The learned counsel for the respondents, Mr. Vinit Sanadhya initially prayed for some time. However, on the request of adjournment turned down, he submitted that under the agreement Ex.2 and Annex.3, the trustees had conferred inheritable rights upon the father of the present respondents deceased Dwarka Prasad and therefore, they (sons) had a right to continue the suit for injunction filed by Dwarka Prasad and consequently, the impugned order of the learned trial Court does not require any interference under Article 227 of the Constitution of India.

4. This Court in the case of Shri Pratapmal Dharewa Dhadabari Trust (supra) by a detailed discussion of legal position including previous decision in the case of Ram Gopal and ors. v. Idol of Shri Radha Krishna Mandir, reported in AIR 2007 (NOC) 900 (Raj.) has held that Pujari has no inheritable right of worship and therefore, in the absence of any inheritable right, right to sue cannot devolve upon the with legal heirs of deceased Dwarka Prasad. It would be relevant to reproduce para 14 to 16 of the said judgment for ready reference :

"14. This Court is also constrained to note that the present suit is being contested by the legal representatives of deceased Poojari Kalu Das. The Poojari of the temple has admittedly no inheritable right of worship and his appointment as Poojari and duties to perform `seva pooja' is governed by the terms of his appointment by the Trust or the Trustees managing the affairs of the deity. The Poojari cannot claim any independent right over the property of the Deity in any case. They are neither the owners nor the managers of the property of the Deity, therefore, right to sue cannot be said to have devolved to their legal representatives of deceased Poojari with the death of Poojari appointed by the Trust. Assuming that his appointment continued through his life time, but with his death the same comes to an end and his legal representatives cannot claim any inheritable right even of `seva puja', much less any right in the property of the Deity, which is managed by the registered Public Trust or the Trustees managing the affairs of the said temple and they are duly registered with the Devasthan Department. Therefore, this aspect of the matter that the respondent-defendants being legal representatives of the deceased Poojari Kalu Das were not even entitled to contest the suit of the plaintiffs deserves to be taken note of by