Guruvayur Temple Board Donation To Kerala CM Covid-19 Fund: Two Reasons Why It May Not Stand Legal Scrutiny

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government in Kerala has received Rs five crore for the Chief Minister’s Covid-19 Relief Fund from the Guruvayur Devaswom Board, triggering a controversy and a legal dispute in the Kerala High Court.

The Guruvayur Devaswom Board is one of the four Devaswom boards in Kerala that manage the affairs of the temples across the state.

The Guruvayur Devaswom Board manages 12 temples including the Sri Krishna temple in Guruvayur, 30 km from Thrissur.

Guruvayur Devaswom Chairman K B Mohandas handed over the fund to Thrissur district collector S Shanavas and said the contribution was part of the Devaswom’s social responsibility.

Mohandas said there was nothing unlawful about it. He added that the Devaswom board had earlier donated to the Chief Minister’s Relief fund during the floods in 2018.

The board chairman said the donation had been made after getting the permission of the Devaswom Commissioner. The contribution has been made from the interest the Devaswom got for its fixed deposits with banks.

The contribution comes on the heels of concerns being raised over payment of salaries to the Guruvayur Devaswom Board in view of the nation-wide lockdown to curb the spread of novel Coronavirus.

Mohandas, however, allayed fears over fund requirements to pay staff salaries.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has opposed the contribution of the Devaswom funds to the Chief Minister’s Covid-19 Relief Fund. Kerala BJP President K Surendran wondered why only Hindu temples were being tapped for Chief Ministers’ Relief Fund.

The party’s spokesperson B Gopalakrishnan said the contribution to the relief fund from the Devaswom Board was untenable. He said that under Section 27 of the Guruvayur Devaswom Act, the income of the temples and their properties should only be used for temple purposes.

He said that the Devaswom’s contribution to the Chief Minister’s relief fund had already been dragged to the High Court and the case was pending.

On the other hand, BJP’s Thrissur district president A Nagesh and the Hindu Aikya Vedi, Kerala, General Secretary R V Babu have filed petitions in the Kerala High Court challenging the Devaswom decision to contribute.

A two-member bench of Justices Shaji P Chaly and M R Anitha has referred the petition to a full bench. The judges made it clear that the contribution would be subject to the final outcome of the cases on diversion of temple funds for non-religious purposes.

Earlier this week, the Madras High Court ruled that the Tamil Nadu Government’s notification asking various temples to contribute a total sum of Rs 10 crore to the Chief Minister’s Covid-19 Relief Fund was not legally tenable.

This resulted in the State Government withdrawing its circular asking temples to contribute to the relief fund.

There are two provisions in the Guruvayoor Devaswom Act, 1978, that could help the cause of the petitioners in the case against the contribution of funds from the temples.

Firstly, according to Section 11 of the Act, no movable or immovable property belonging to the Devaswom over the value of Rs 5,000 “can be sold, pledged or otherwise alienated unless it is sanctioned by the Commissioner as being necessary or beneficial to the Devaswom”.

Before giving sanction to these, the Commissioner “shall publish particulars relating to the proposed transaction” inviting objections and suggestions and duly consider them.

The second provision is under Section 27 of the Act. As per this, the Devaswom Board can incur expenditure for certain purposes provided it is for:

(a) maintenance, management and administration of the Temple , its properties and the temples subordinate thereto;

(b) training of archakas to perform the religious worship and ceremonies in the Temple and the temples subordinate thereto;

(c) medical relief, water supply and other sanitary arrangements for the worshippers and the pilgrims and construction of building for their accommodation;

(d) culture and propagation of the tenets and philosophy associated with the Temple;

(e) the establishment and maintenance of or the making of any grant or contribution to, any poor home or other similar institution which is maintained for the benefit mainly of persons belonging to the Hindu Community;

(f) the establishment and maintenance of any educational institution which provides for encouragement of education in the Sanskrit or Malayalam Language and the maintenance of any such educational institution owned or managed by the Devaswom or in which the Devaswom has interest; and

(g) the making of any contribution to any religious institution.

Thus, the Devaswom contribution to the Chief Minister’s Covid-19 Relief Fund may not fall under these provisions.