Limited state role has improved facilities for devotees in temples: SC

LImited authorities interference in temple direction has improved facilities for devotees, the sublime margaret court remarked on Tuesday, stressing that temples cannot be treated as private properties excluding others.“Limited intervention of the government has led to the improvement of facilities in the temples. There are now good facilities. Most of them are spending the amount in the welfare of the temples and the devotees. What can be the problem of the government constituting committees to improve the facilities?” observed a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.The bench, also comprising justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi, was hearing a contempt petition filed by Vidyadas Babaji, a seer and archaka of the Anjaneya temple located at Anjanadri Hills in Karnataka’s Koppal district. The seer alleged that the state administration had barred him from performing traditional archaka duties in violation of the Supreme Court’s earlier orders.Appearing for Vidyadas Babaji, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain relied on interim orders passed by the Supreme Court in May and August 2025, which had allowed the petitioner to continue as archaka of the temple until the Karnataka High Court decided his challenge to the state’s takeover of the temple in 2018.Jain submitted that there had been a “conscious attempt” to oust the petitioner and that he was assaulted following a scuffle triggered by the visit of another seer to the temple last month.During the hearing, the bench questioned the conduct attributed to the petitioner. “How did he assault Shankaracharya? How can he assault anyone who wants to enter the temple? Does he have musclemen there? It is more like a wrestler than being a priest,” the court remarked.Jain denied the allegation, saying it was the petitioner who had been assaulted and that he had been performing puja in accordance with temple traditions for years. He alleged that the other seer was a “self-proclaimed Shankaracharya” who was present at the instance of the state government, in violation of Supreme Court and high court orders.Jain also pointed out that a connected petition raising broader issues on state control over temples is pending consideration before the Supreme Court, including a petition that has assailed a law in Karnataka against the state control.The bench, however, underlined that religious rights could not be exercised to exclude devotees. “Temples are not private properties. Temples are for devotees. You cannot exercise your right to the exclusion of any other devotee,” it said.Refusing to interfere at this stage, the court asked Jain to pursue remedies before the high court. It noted that the writ petition challenging the state takeover of the temple had been pending before the Karnataka High Court since 2019 and that a decision there would resolve many of the issues being raised.In its order, the court recorded that it had been informed that the high court had reserved its judgment in the writ petition in November last year. It directed the petitioner to approach the high court with an appropriate application seeking suitable reliefs, observing that most issues would be resolved once the high court pronounced its decision.The contempt petition alleged willful disobedience of the Supreme Court’s August 11, 2025 order, which had directed authorities to allow the petitioner to continue performing priestly duties and reside in the temple premises until the high court decided the matter. The plea claimed that on December 23, 2025, another seer, Govindanand Saraswati Swamiji, accompanied by state officials and security personnel, entered the sanctum sanctorum, restrained the petitioner from performing rituals and forcibly removed him from the temple.It also challenged a notice issued by the executive officer of the temple, who is also the Tahsildar of Gangavathi, on December 24, 2025, directing the petitioner to come down from the Anjanadri Hills and restricting his activities, allegedly in violation of Supreme Court and high court interim orders as well as an undertaking given by the state.The Anjaneya temple was taken over by the Karnataka government in 2018 under the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997, during the tenure of the HD Kumaraswamy-led government. The archaka had challenged the takeover, and while the high court allowed him to continue performing his duties pending adjudication, disputes over control of the temple have persisted.Clashes were reported at the temple on December 23 and 24, 2025, between Vidyadas Babaji and Govindanand Saraswati Swamiji over leadership and control, following which several persons were arrested. The petitioner has alleged that the rival seer disrupted worship and attempted to assault him.