The said judgment is clearly erroneous as the presiding deity of the temple is the owner of the land attached to the temple. The Pujari is only to perform puja and to maintain the properties of the deity. In fact, the Constitution Bench in a judgment reported as M. Siddiq (Dead) Through Legal Representatives v. Mahant Suresh Das and Others, (2020) 1 SCC 1 held as under:
“511. …….. A pujari is merely a servant or appointee of a shebait and gains no independent right as a shebait despite having conducted ceremonies over a period of time. All the evidence relied upon to support the claim of late Baba Abhiram Das is restricted to his having performed puja at the disputed premises and does not confer any shebaiti rights.”
27. In the ownership column, the name of the deity alone is required to be mentioned, as the deity being a juristic person is the owner of the land. The occupation of the land is also by the deity which is carried out by the servant or the managers on behalf of the deity. Therefore, the name of the manager or that of the priest is not required to be mentioned in the column of occupier as well. In Ghanshyamdas II, it was held that if the name of the Pujari is recorded in the column No. 12 i.e. column of remarks, it will not affect the rights of the Pujari so long as he is performing his functions properly and cultivating the land or getting the land cultivated through servants. Therefore, the name of the Pujari cannot be mandated to be recorded either in the column of ownership or occupancy but may be recorded in the remark’s column.
Supreme Court
JUSTICE HEMANT GUPTA JUSTICE A.S. BOPANNA
The STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH & ORS. Vs. PUJARI UTTHAN AVAM KALYAN SAMITI & ANR.
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 4850 OF 2021
6th September 2021
Author: HEMANT GUPTA, J.
Citation: 2021 ALL SCR (ONLINE) 406
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