Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Nov 18: Through a major verdict, the state high court (HC) has struck down ammendments brought to Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments act 1997 in 2011 and 2012. These ammendments had aimed at tightening the hold of the government over temples and other Hindu entities in the state.

As a consequence, state and district level religious councils, formed in tune with these ammendments, will lost sanctity.

A division bench of the HC comprising Justice Anand Byrareddy and Justice S Sujatha, through an order, held the ammendments illegal altogether, opining that they were against the Constitution and norms of equality. Hundreds of temples including 68 from Uttara Kannada district had approached HC seeking to cancel these ammendments. With this order, the government will be losing its absolute right to form managing committees, and appoint administrators and executive officers to temples falling under muzrai department.

The government had in 2003, issued notification for bringing more temples under the said act. A total of 34,000 temples were brought under this department.

The Supreme Court, through an order passed on March 24 this year, had asked the high court to dispose off petitions questioning validity of ammendments brought to the above act in 2011 and 2012, even though the special petition questioning the original act was pending before the Supreme Court. The temples had questioned the propriety of the ammendments, which were brought when the original suit was pending disposal in the Supreme Court.