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ANITA SUMANTH, R. VIJAYAKUMAR
Shanmugasundara Bhattar (Died) – Appellant
Versus
S. Chandrasekara Bhattar – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
DR.ANITA SUMANTH, J.
PRAYER:- Writ Appeal - filed under Clause XV of Letters Patent Act, to set aside the order passed in W.P.(MD)No.17634 of 2017 dated 08.10.2018.
The third respondent in the Writ Petition is the appellant (hereinafter referred to as ‘appellant’) and the Writ Petitioner is arrayed as R1 (hereinafter referred to as ‘writ petitioner’) in this Writ Appeal. The Joint Commissioner (JC) of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department and the Executive Officer (EO)/Joint Commissioner of Arulmighu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple (in short ‘Temple’) were arrayed as R1 and R2 in the Writ Petition and R2 and R3 in the Writ Appeal and are henceforth referred to as per their array in the appeal, that is, R2 and R3.
2. The brief facts that arise in the matter culminating in order dated 08.10.2018 in W.P.(MD) No.17634 of 2017 are as follows:
ii) Traditionally, Archakars are appointed based on ancestry and render three kinds of duties, viz., a) performance of Pooja b) performance of Murai and c) those who perform both Pooja and Murai.
iii) The writ petitioner was engaged exclusively for performance
Civil courts cannot adjudicate matters related to poojariship and associated rights, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Joint Commissioner as per the HR & CE Act.
The availability of an alternative remedy of appeal before the Commissioner under Section 69 of the HR and CE Act rendered the writ petition not maintainable.
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the Civil Court has jurisdiction to decide disputes over hereditary trusteeship when there are rival claimants, and the authorities under the ....
The main legal point established in the judgment is that in a dispute over temple rights, the courts may determine the issue of title in a suit for injunction if the matter involved is simple and str....
The central legal point established in the judgment is the authority of the trustee to appoint and allocate archakars as per Section 55(1) of the Act, and the inalienability of hereditary religious r....
The court affirmed that while trusteeship can be hereditary, poojariship is not, as per the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, emphasizing the secular nature of appointments.
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