Disposed

Santhana Dharma Sanstha-Sri Siddheswara Swamy Peetham v. The State of Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh HC23 Jul 2021WP/12568/2021

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

This court disposed of a writ petition where the petitioner temple challenged the respondent's seizure of Hundis. The court held the temple to be public under the Endowments Act and directed its registration within three months.

What did the court decide?

The petitioner will be registered as a Charitable/Religious Institution or Endowment within three months; interim measures for fund management were also issued.

Santhana Dharma Sanstha-Sri Siddheswara… — Writ and Judicial Review | Andhra Pradesh HC (2021)

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HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE R. RAGHUNANDAN RAO WRIT PETITION No.12568 of 2021

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ORDER:

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The petitioner is the Santhana Dharma Sanstha-Sri Siddheswara Swamy Peetham-Sri Sarada Devi Gurukula Pathasala, which is registered as a Trust. The objects of the Trust are to impart quality education and to provide free food and shelter to the poor and needy. As part of these objectives certain temples were also constructed for the benefit of the poorer sections of the society. The petitioner is now aggrieved by the action of the 3^rd respondent in entering the temple premises of the petitioner and seizing the Hundis present in the complex. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner is a private institution and cannot be treated as a public temple or institution which falls within the ambit of Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions & Endowments Act, 1987 (for short ‘the Act’).

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Sri S.V.S.S.Siva Ram, learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the 3^rd respondent, who is an authority under the Endowments Act would have no jurisdiction to interfere with the activities of the petitioner, as the petitioner is a private institution/temple and does not fall within the ambit of Endowments Act.

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Sri S.V.S.S.Siva Ram, would also submit that since the petitioner is not registered either under Section 6 or Section 43 of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious

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Institutions & Endowments Act, 1987 (for short ‘the Act’), the provisions of ‘the Act’ would not apply.

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Learned Government Pleader has submitted written instructions received from the 3^rd respondent. In these instructions, it is stated that there are certain disputes within the petitioner trust and in any event the petitioner trust has set up Hundis, in which, the general public are placing their contributions and further the temple of the petitioner trust is open to all sections of the public, which would require the temple to be categorized as public temple, which falls within the ambit of Section 2 (27) of ‘the Act’.

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A perusal of the affidavit filed by the petitioner would also show that it is the case of the petitioner that Hundis have been placed in the temple and contributions from the public are being deposited in these Hundis.

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In the circumstances, it is clear that the petitioner temple is a public temple, which falls within the ambit of the Endowments Act.

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The further contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the authorities under the Endowments Act, would have no jurisdiction unless and until the institution is registered either under Section 6 or Section 43 of ‘the Act’.

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A perusal of Section 43 of ‘the Act’ would show that every Charitable or Religious Institution or Endowment has to

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register itself within 90 days from the commencement of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions & Endowments Act, 1987, and in the event of an application being made for such registration, the institution or temple shall be registered along with the particulars set out under Section 43 of ‘the Act’ itself. In the event of the application mentioned in Section 43 of ‘the Act’ not being filed, the authorities under the Endowments Act are empowered, under Section 44 of ‘the Act’ to register the same after giving notice to the trustee or other person. Similarly, Section 6 of ‘the Act’ also provides for preparation and publication of the list of Charitable and Religious Institutions on the basis of income.

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Another relevant provision would be Section 8(2) of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions & Endowments Act, 1987, which reads as follows:

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“Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions, the Commissioner shall exercise the powers conferred on him and perform the functions entrusted to him by or under this Act in respect of such institutions or endowments in the State as are included in the lists published under Clause (a), Clause (d) and Clause (e) of Section 6”.

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One interpretation of this provision could be that the Commissioner and other authorities under ‘the Act’ can exercise supervisory or other jurisdiction over a institution only when it is including the list published under Section 6 of ‘the Act’. The other view is that this provision does not prohibit of the exercise

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of such jurisdiction, as the said provision commences with the words “without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions”.

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This writ petition can be disposed of without going into this issue in the following manner:

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1. The 3^rd respondent-Assistant Commissioner of Endowments Department, shall take steps under Section 44 of ‘the Act’ to register the petitioner as a Charitable/Religious Institution or Endowment, in accordance with the procedure set out under Section 44 of ‘the Act’ and relevant Rules, within a period of three (3) months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order;

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1. In the interim period, the board of trustees which is said to be in the management of the petitioner temple shall continue to manage the affairs of the petitioner. However, the contributions received from the devotees either by way of deposit in the Hundis or by way of any other method of contribution shall be accounted by the present board of trustees. For this purpose, the Hundis shall be opened only in the presence of the 3^rd respondent or her delegate and the amount so obtained shall be deposited in an account in a schedule bank and the present trustees shall

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utilize those funds only for the purposes of payment of salaries and other essential expenditure, such as payment of electricity bills, water and etc.

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Accordingly, the writ petition is disposed of. There

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shall be no order as to costs.

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As a sequel, pending miscellaneous petitions, if any,

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shall stand closed.

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____________________________ R. RAGHUNANDAN RAO, J.

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23.07.2021 SDP

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HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE R. RAGHUNANDAN RAO

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WRIT PETITION No.12568 of 2021

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23-07-2021

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SDP

Santhana Dharma Sanstha-Sri Siddheswara Swamy Peetham v. The State of Andhra Pradesh

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Santhana Dharma Sanstha-Sri Siddheswara Swamy Peetham v. The State of Andhra Pradesh

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

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Statutes considered

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