New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday sought “some material” in support of a PIL which sought a uniform code for religious and charitable endowments and claimed that over 15,000 temples closed down in Karnataka due to crunch of funds.
The PIL referred to the control of authorities on Hindu temples across the country, unlike certain faith groups which are allowed to manage their own religious and prayer institutions.
“These petitions appear to be just bare averments and beyond that nothing. Please pardon, I may be wrong. But the point is that there must be some material in support of that,” a bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and S Ravindra Bhat said.
It granted two weeks time to lawyer and PIL petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay to file some “concrete material” in favour of his contention that a ‘secular’ state has been collecting funds from Hindu temples and bodies running them from across the nation and not funding them back adequately which has led to closure of around 15,000 temples in Karnataka alone.
“Apart from your statements, is there any official document that 15,000 temples in Karnataka have been shut down…We will be taking cognizance of something which are sweeping statements. We are not saying they are false statements but at least give some material,” the CJI said.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankarnarayanan, appearing for Upadhyay, said the court can take note of the legal framework where the religious institutions of Hindus only are being sought to be regulated in particular form.
“In a secular state, you have to distance the church from the State. If the State is proximate to one religion that is the problem,” he said.
“You are asking us to legislate,” the bench said.
Another senior advocate Arvind Datar referred to an earlier case and said the top court had agreed to examine the endowment laws of five states — Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Upadhyay, in July, had filed the PIL seeking Uniform Code for Religious and Charitable Endowments and had also sought a declaration that Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs have the right to manage their religious places without State interference like Christians and Muslims.
The plea filed by advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay contended that Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs should have similar rights to establish, manage and maintain their religious places like Muslims, Parsis and Christians, and the State cannot abridge this right.
It is submitted that the right to manage institutions conferred under Articles 26 is a natural right for all communities. But Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs have been denied this privilege, said the plea filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey.
The PIL stated that there are approximately four lakh temples out of nine Lakh temples across the country which are under government control.
There is not a single church or mosque related religious body where any control or interference of government is seen, it said, added that as far as tax paying or endowments is concerned there is no payment of tax from churches and mosques in the country.
“And due to the same reasons mentioned there is a need to change the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HRCE) Act, 1951 and other similar acts enacted by the States from time to time.
“This Act gives the government permission to control the temples as well the properties of the temples. There is almost 13 to 18 per cent of the service charge levied over the temples. There are almost 15 States in our nation which take control over the Hindu religious institutions. When the service charges are implemented over temples, it basically takes away the community rights as well as resources that are protecting its interests,” the plea said.
The petition said that Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs have similar rights to acquire and administer movable-immovable properties of their religious places like Muslims and Christians and the state cannot abridge that.
All the Laws made to acquire and administer movable-immovable properties of temples-gurdwaras are arbitrary, irrational and offend Articles 14, 15, 26. Hence, void and inoperative, the petition stated.
“If necessary, the court may direct the Centre or Law Commission of India to draft a ‘Common Charter for Religious and Charitable Institutions’ and ‘Uniform Code for Religious and Charitable Endowments’,” the plea said.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Marziya Sharif | 
