Supreme Court Holds State Cannot Accept Temple Land as Gift; Declares Gift Deed Void

A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe ruled on 16 October that the State, as custodian of religious and charitable institutions, cannot accept temple land as a gift -- not even for a public purpose. Setting aside a March 2019 Madras High Court order, the court declared void the August 2017 gift deed by which a temporary trustee transferred 1 acre 10 cents of the Nagapalayam Mariamman-Ponnachiamman Temple's inam land at Kodumudi, Erode to the Tamil Nadu government for a Taluk Office, holding it violated Section 41 of the TN HR&CE Act, 1959. Because the office already stands on the land, the government may continue only as a lessee, paying Rs 31,000 per month in rent from March 2019, with arrears to be cleared in three months. It must also pay Rs 1 lakh in costs to the temple within eight weeks. Free Press Journal Bar & Bench ETV Bharat (Freepressjournal, Bar & Bench, Etvbharat)

• A bench of Justices P.S.
• Narasimha and Alok Aradhe ruled on 16 October that the State, as custodian of religious and charitable institutions, cannot accept temple land as a gift -- not even for a public purpose.
• Setting aside a March 2019 Madras High Court order, the court declared void the August 2017 gift deed by which a temporary trustee transferred 1 acre 10 cents of the Nagapalayam Mariamman-Ponnachiamman Temple's inam land