'No Politics In Devotion': Karnataka HC Asks Parties Agitating Shifting Of Deity From New Temple To Old Dilapidated Premises To Approach Civil Court

A single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna party allowing the petition filed by residents of Doddathekalavatti Village in Chitradurga observed,

"The devotees of the old temple and the new temple are the same, is a fact that cannot be brushed aside. The issue whether, the deity was placed in the old temple or the new temple?...If the temple is in a dilapidated condition and the deity is now in the new temple where the temple can accommodate necessary gathering at any point in time, in the considered view of the Court, owing to public interest and public safety, it should be permitted to continue."

In a prior suit, it was declared that Kamsagara Beeralingeshwara and Hinde Mallikarjunaswamy Temple belongs to Hori Kuruba Community and is a private temple.

In the instant case, the Court noted that issue is not about rights over the temple but where the deity should be kept.

The petitioners averred that in the year 2020 pooja materials and properties of the newly constructed Temple including the idol were attempted to be shifted to the old Temple, which is in a dilapidated condition on account of grave weather conditions. It was averred that this shifting was instigated by a former MLA.

The bench referred to the photographs appended to the petition, acknowledged by the Government, demonstrating that the old temple premises is in a dilapidated condition. It observed,

"The photographs that are appended would demonstrate huge crowds or gathering at the time of festivals which definitely cannot be accommodated in the old temple. Politics apart, in public interest, the safety of the public that enter into those temples should be a paramount interest of the State. If the temple is in a dilapidated condition and the deity is now in the new temple where the temple can accommodate necessary gathering at any point in time, in the considered view of the Court, owing to public interest and public safety, it should be permitted to continue."

It added that if the warring factions seek to claim any right over the deity and it being placed in a particular temple, it is open for them to agitate the issue before the competent civil Court.

However, it suggested that before instituting any suit, it would be necessary for the people of the Hori Kuruba Community to sit together and decide about the place of placing the deity, as the manner of worship will not change from shifting the deity from one place to another.

The bench opined, "If the deity is to be worshipped people can worship the deity at the new temple itself. Political consideration or any such agenda as alleged should not take away public interest or public safety, in the deity being shifted from one place to the other...There should be devotion in politics; and not politics in devotion."

Case Title: PRAKASH & Others v. THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER & others

Case No: WRIT PETITION No.14590 OF 2020

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Kar) 498

Date of Order: 24TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2022

Appearance: LAKSHMY IYENGAR, SR.ADVOCATE A/W SANJAYA KUMAR K.N., ADVOCATE for petitioner; RASHMI PATEL, HCGP FOR R1 TO R4; K.S.HARISH, ADVOCATE FOR R5 TO R21.