New Delhi : Asserting that “constitutional legitimacy must supercede all religious beliefs or practices”, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that appointment as priests in temples and other religious institutions cannot be denied to a person solely on the basis of “caste, birth or any other constitutionally unacceptable parameter”.
A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and N V Ramana interpreted Article 16(5) of the Constitution to state that inclusion or exclusion of a particular segment for appointment as priests in temples or other religious institutions can be ratified only when “such exclusion is not on the basis of caste, birth or pedigree”.
“…if a custom or usage is outside the protective umbrella afforded… by Articles 25 and 26, the law would certainly take its own course. The constitutional legitimacy, naturally, must supersede all religious beliefs or practices,” it held. Articles 25 and 26 ensure freedom to profess and propagate religious practices and to manage religious affairs.
According weightage to essential religious practices, the bench said certain groups can claim their rights to manage affairs of a temple and perform specific pujas, but with a rider that it does not fall foul of constitutional guarantees to others, Indian Express reported.
What comprises essential religious practices, the bench noted, will have to be determined by the court and there is no bar to judicial determination of such issues as and when they arise.
The ruling came as the court said appointment of archakas (priests) in temples of Tamil Nadu following ‘Agama Sastra’ – rituals of individual temples concerned – will continue as per the custom if they are duly identified as a specific class and the practice conforms to constitutional mandates and other principles.
Clarifying that validity of appointments of archakas can be challenged, the court said such matters will have to dealt with on a case-to-case basis since it would involve a determination of the contours of a claimed custom.
A group of priests of Madurai’s Sri Meenakshi Amman Temple had moved the top court against a 2006 government order that said: “Any person who is a Hindu and possessing the requisite qualification and training can be appointed as a archaka in Hindu temples”. They had argued that appointment of an archaka has to be as per Agamas governing the particular temple and any deviation from the age-old custom would be an infringement of the freedom of religion and the rights of the religious denomination to manage its own affairs guaranteed by Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution.