Duty of courts to protect properties of religious institutions from wrongful claims: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday observed that it is the duty of courts to protect and safeguard properties of religious and charitable institutions from wrongful claims or misappropriation..A Division Bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and PG Ajithkumar held so while revoking the permission granted by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to a Delhi-based trust to put up constructions for holding a nine-day-long 'Ramakatha' programme at Pamba-Manalppuram area which falls in the pilgrimage path to the Sabarimala temple..The Court observed that the government, members of the boards/trusts, devotees and the Courts itself must be vigilant to prevent such encroachments which it opined occurred often and possibly with collusion of the authorities. "Instances are many where persons entrusted with the duty of managing and safeguarding the properties of temples, deities and Devaswom Boards have usurped and misappropriated such properties by setting up false claims of ownership or tenancy, or adverse possession. This is possible only with the passive or active collusion of the authorities concerned. Such acts of ‘fences eating the crops’ should be dealt with sternly. The Government, members or trustees of boards/trusts, and devotees should be vigilant to prevent any such usurpation or encroachment. It is also the duty of courts to protect and safeguard the properties of religious and charitable institutions from wrongful claims or misappropriation," the Court said in its judgement..The Court also said that under relevant principles of Hindu law, a deity and minor are treated similarly and that High Court must apply the doctrine of parens patriae and act as guardian of the deity ."The relevant principles under the Hindu law will show that the Deity is always treated similar to that of a minor and there are some points of similarity between a minor and a Hindu idol. The High Court therefore is the guardian of the Deity and apart from the jurisdiction under Section 103 of the Land Reforms Act, 1957 viz. the powers of revision, the High Court is having inherent jurisdiction and the doctrine of parents (sic) patriae will also apply in exercising the jurisdiction," the judgement stated..The issue of the constructions in the Pamba Manalppuram area was taken up by the court suo motu on the basis of a news article in Malayalam news daily, Mathrubhumi, which reported that the TDB had leased out the area to Shri Nandkishore Bajoria Charitable Trust to conduct a nine day long programme called "Ramkatha".The trust said that the program was to be conducted by Morari Bapu, who is supposedly a spiritual Guru and exponent of 'Ramacharithamanasam'.To facilitate the permissions sought for using space at Pamba Manalppuram for putting up tents, use of helipad at Nilakkal, etc. the trust submitted that it offered the TDB an amount of ₹7 lakh as offerings for annadhanam, out of which ₹3 lakh has already been paid.The permission was granted by the TDB following which they began construction of several structures to conduct the programme and facilitate participants to attend the same..The Senior Government Pleader pointed out that the land at Pamba is leased out to the TDB for the specific purpose of pilgrim support,which cannot be used for any other purpose, including the Ramkatha programme. The Court concurred with the same going by the provisions of the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act, 1950 and The Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Act, 1965..After examining some photographs of the construction that has been going on since January 24, the Court observed that the a major portion of Pamba-Manalppuram was now occupied by the temporary structures which was "causing obstruction and inconvenience" to the pilgrims proceeding through there to Sannidhanam at Sabarimala from February 13 in connection with the Kumbamasa Pooja.Therefore, the Court ordered that all such constructions must be removed immediately.It further directed the Special Commissioner, Sabarimala to submit a report before the Court as to the measures that have to be taken to ensure that similar incidents are not repeated at Pamba Manalppuram in future..[Read Judgement]