Supreme Court stops short of allowing non-Brahmins as priests in Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the state could be told to lay off religious matters in our secular set-up but not the courts which can be called upon to examine the validity of laws like appointing non-Brahmins as temple priests provided they had knowledge of temple rituals and customs. The apex court, however, stopped short of examining a TN rule allowing non-Brahmins to become temple priests.

A bench, comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and NV Ramanna, desisted from giving a specific ruling on the issue, possibly because of its volatile repercussions in tradition-bound Tamil Nadu and instead said it would examine each appointment for violation of constitutional principles if it is challenged. The Indian Constitution bars any discrimination on grounds of race, gender, caste, religion etc, except for appointment in institutions belonging to a particular religious denomination.

In every case that lands up in courts, the courts would examine if the appointment to a particular group of temples was violative of any agamas (rituals, customs) and whether it was in keeping with the Constitution.

Archakas, or priests, in Tamil Nadu have traditionally been from a particular caste. But the Tamil Nadu government, under DMK, brought in a law permitting other sects from being appointing provided they were familiar with the Agamas, treatises for temple rituals and customs.

This was challenged by the traditional archakas of the Meenakshi temple in Madurai who passed on the mantle from father to son unless the next in line was a minor or suffered from some incapacity.