It is the Dharma of the Supreme Court

A petition is now before it to free Hindu temples from govt control

The Supreme Court in its judgement dated July 22, 2016 in WP 1028 of 2014 filed as a public interest litigation empathised with the concern expressed by the petitioner-in-person on the rapidly degrading moral values in the society, touching every aspect of life where making money anyhow has become the sole motto of society, and the need for moral education.

The Court noted the submission of the petitioner: “In the submission of the petitioner, the failure to include moral science as a compulsory subject violates Article 25 of the Constitution which recognises the freedom of conscience and the fundamental right to profess, practice and propagate religion.” While refusing to give directions to the government to include moral education as part of school curriculum, it observed that ”these are vexed issues to which more than one solution may appear just.

That is exactly the reason why a resolution of such matters must rest with those who have the responsibility to teach and govern over matters of education. Every good that is perceived to be in the interest of society cannot be mandated by the court. Nor is the judicial process an answer to every social ill which a public interest petitioner perceives. A matter such as the present to which a solution does not rest in a legal or constitutional framework is incapable of being dealt with in terms of judicially manageable standards.”

It is unfortunate that the Court treaded cautiously with regard to the education system but has been proactive when the reforms to temple system were proposed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. It is important that the aforementioned warning given by Nani Palkhivala to the Supreme Court continues to ring in our ears.

The sound of the bell of the Alampur temple (Yoga Narasimha Swamy Temple, Alampur, Mahabubnagar district, now in Telangana State) on which Shri Bheemasena Chary, the Archaka of Alampur temple sacrificed his life, should also continue to ring in our ears for ages to come.

The sacrifice was forced by the draconian 30/87 AP Endowments Act which in the name of reforms tried to change the Agamic prescriptions of Hereditary Archakatvam, harassing, extricating and disallowing the committed and duty-bound Archaka families serving the deities for hundreds of years to perform their religious duties, and thereby completely eliminated the temple system in the State of Andhra Pradesh.

Other States like Tamil Nadu have also enacted similar legislations against the wishes of religious leaders of the respective denominations, cults and beliefs. The judiciary including the apex court has also been playing the so-called reformist role by interpreting the Agamic texts to uphold the legislations against the very principle enunciated in the Preamble of our Constitution. Every organ of the State under our Constitution has failed in its fundamental duty to protect the liberty of belief, faith and worship of the minority Archaka Community and crores of devotees.

The Supreme Court first upheld the Constitutionality of the 30/87 AP Endowments Act in AS Narayana Deekshitulu v State of Andhra Pradesh (AIR 1996 SC 1765), using the Essential Practices Doctrine without verifying the contentions of the Petitioner Organisation, Telangana Archaka Samakhya, that the Act would deprive the Archaka community of fundamental rights and the right to purpose of life for crores of devotees by attempting to reform the whole system out of existence.

Later, the Supreme Court revisited its own judgement and made certain suitable recommendations in a follow-up judgement in 1997. Realising the blunder, the AP Legislature in 2007 passed amendments restoring the hereditary Archakatvam and constituted Dharmika Parishad to regulate the activities of religious institutions in an apologetic way. However, there has been a serious flaw in the implementation of this 33/2007 Amendment Act in toto by the Endowments Department officials in spite of their promises in front of the Supreme Court to implement it.

As a result, the whole temple system is in a state of threat for existence. It is now widely accepted that the government control of Hindu temples has led to increased politicisation, commercialisation and corruption and has also contributed to the present situation of moral degradation in our society, by causing closure of low income temples as sick units and conversion of high income temples into cinema theatre like atmosphere through ticket and VIP system and focus solely on income generation with least attention paid to ‘Dharmik’ or moral education aspect, the very spiritual purpose for existence of our temples.

The Supreme Court can still do something about the rapidly degrading moral values in our society by speeding up the hearing of Swami Dayananda Saraswati’s petition (invoking Art. 25 & 26) filed with an objective to revive our temple system of worship to impart moral education to more and more people so that they develop ‘Dharma’ abiding nature in all their day-to-day activities.

The courts had approved of undue powers to the government to destroy heritage structures in the name of facilities to citizen, which will never happen in developed countries. Historic structures like the 1000 Pillar Mandapm at Tirumala was destroyed with dynamite. The High Court had to intervene during the gold-plating scheme called Anantha Swarnamayam. The courts did not intervene when temples were demolished in Vijayawada.

Swamy Dayananda Saraswati’s Writ petition WP 476 of 2012 under Article 32 is filed in Supreme Court to free Hindu temples from government control so that endowments are preserved, dilapidated temples are renovated, temples become pilgrim-friendly, the rich traditions and cultural heritage are preserved and all stakeholders participate in a spirit of partnership with devotion and dedication to bring temples back into social life as centers of moral education, human welfare, fine arts and architecture. (Writer is Convener, Temples Protection Movement)

By Dr M V Soundararajan