Property of a temple

S. sangwan (Querist) 22 February 2013 This query is : Resolved
wheather a pujari whose name is in khana No. 4(ownership column )of the jamabandi(revenue record) with thakurdwara (temple)can sale the land of that kind?

please suggess with any ruling of Hon'ble Supreme Court of india

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ajay sethi (Expert) 23 February 2013
pujari is only caretaker of land . the owner of land would be the diety of the temple . pujari must have manipulated the records to show himself as the owner .

when was land purchased ? who had purchased the land ? how did pujari name appear as owner in revenue records?

In Bishwanath v. Sri Thakur Radha Ballabhji, AIR 1967 SC 1044, the Hon'ble Apex Court has observed as under :

"When such an alienation has been effected by the shebait acting adversely to the interests of the idol even a worshipper can file the suit, the reason being that the idol is in the position of a minor and when the person representing it leaves it in a lurch, a person interested in the worship of the idol can certainly be clothed with an ad hoc power of representation to protect its interest."

ajay sethi (Expert) 23 February 2013
temple is a public temple and a particular cultivator can hold such land only at a specifically willed instance of the trustees and strictly on terms and conditions and for a particular period determined between them and any person, who claims any rights or interest on such property, has to show prima facie authority on behalf of and bona fides vis-a-vis the public trust, i.e. the temple. Thus, in such circumstances, the revenue as well as the administrative authorities have a legal obligation to protect interest prejudicial to the effective exercise of a permanent domain and right of property by the temples on their lands. In fact, the concession to the effect that a person cultivating the land of the temple can acquire Khatedari rights runs counter to the public policy and the basic concept that a deity is a perpelual minor and physically disabled person and his interests are to be protected. At the most, a cultivator can act as a guardian of the diety (minor) but he cannot be permitted to usurp over the rights and interests of such minor and disabled person.

R.K Nanda (Expert) 23 February 2013
no more to add.

Shashikant V. Patil (Expert) 23 February 2013
In some states, as per Revenue parlance , it is also called as Devsthan Inam, it can not be transferred to any one. In revenue record, the God's (whosoever) name shall entered in ownership column, and not the name of Pujari. Pujari has given only other rights except ownership such as to look after the temple's administration, management, Pooja and all religious rituals and also to cultivate land of temple for the income of temple. It is illegal to have the name of Poojari in the ownership column in revenue records. The same shall be liable to face legal consequences if arises.