Shimla, Oct 14 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh High Court has said temple funds cannot be diverted, transmitted or donated to any government welfare scheme or any other activity not related to the temple or religion, as devotees make donations believing that these would be used for the care of deities, the shrine, and the promotion of Sanatan Dharma.
Disposing of a civil writ petition seeking appropriate utilisation of temple funds, the court issued elaborate instructions about the use of such funds and also specified the purposes for which temple funds cannot be used.
A bench of Justices Vivek Singh Thakur and Rakesh Kainthla said funds of temples under the Hindu Public Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1984, can be used only for the care of deities, maintaining temple spaces and promotion of Sanatan Dharma.
The funds cannot be diverted, transmitted or donated to any welfare scheme of the government or any other activity not related to the temple or religion, the bench said.
The petitioner, Kashmir Chand Shadyal, had also sought issuance of directions to the respondent authority to ensure strict compliance with the Act, especially the provisions pertaining to the preparation of budget, maintenance of accounts and incurring expenditure.
The court directed the temples to publicly display their monthly income, expenditures, details of projected funds raised by donations and audit summaries on the notice board to instil confidence that the funds are being used for the intended purpose.
“The devotees offer donations to temples and through them to the divine with the clear belief that these would be used only for care of deities, maintaining temple spaces and promotion of Sanatan Dharma and when the government appropriates these sacred offerings, it betrays that trust,” it said.
The 38-page judgment was delivered on Friday, and a copy of it was made available on Tuesday.
The court said that “every rupee of temple funds must be used for the temple’s religious purpose or dharmic charity and cannot be treated like general revenue of the state and diverted, transmitted or donated for any welfare scheme of the government.” It pointed out that “the deity is a juristic person and the funds belong to the deity and not the government, while the trustees are only custodians and any misuse of funds amounts to criminal breach of trust”.
Temple fund cannot be utilised for the construction of roads, bridges, and public buildings which are to be constructed by the state or for any government welfare schemes, investing in private businesses or industries for profit, the judgement said.
The high court also said that the donations cannot be used for purchasing vehicles for the commissioner, temple officer, and others.
In case the commissioner and temple officer undertake activities related to the temple, they can only seek the reimbursement of the expenses made by them for the aforesaid purposes by using their official vehicles or other vehicles at government rates, the bench said.
Further, these funds cannot be used for purchasing gifts for the VIPs visiting the temples, including mementoes, photos, pictures of the Temple or for the purchase of any item, including chunni (scarf) and prasadam for VIPs.
To fix accountability, the high court directed that “where it is found that any trustee has misutilised the funds of the temple, it will be recovered from him and he will be personally held liable for the misutilisation of such funds”. PTI BPL NSD NSD
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