The Supreme Court refused to stay the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to appoint priests from all castes.
In a case seeking to stay the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to make priests of all castes who have completed priestly training, the Supreme Court refused to stay the Tamil Nadu government’s decision.
The Hindu Religious Endowment Department has issued new rules in 2020 regarding the appointment of Archars and Priests in Tamil Nadu Temples. Accordingly, it was informed that a person between the age of eighteen to thirty-five years who has undergone one year training in Agama schools can be appointed as a priest.
Adi Shaiva Sivacharyas Seva Sangam and some individuals filed suit against this.
In October 2021, the Madras High Court, which heard these cases, said that this case related to the appointment of a priest was bound by the court’s final decision. Thereafter, the case was heard by a bench headed by Chief Justice Munishwarnath Bhandari.
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On the other hand, it was argued that it was illegal for the government to appoint priests through the Thakars when no hereditary trustees were appointed for the temples. They argued that only the trustees could appoint priests.
They also protested that the priests should be appointed according to the rules of Agama and in violation of that, all the castes who have completed the priestly training should not be appointed as priests.
In response to this, the government filed a reply stating that a high-level committee had been set up and examined and after that it was announced that those who completed one year of training could apply.
Further, in the Shivacharyas case, the Supreme Court had ruled that those who learned the rules of Agama can become priests.
In this case, the High Court ruled that the rules issued by the government will apply in the case that all castes can become priests. At the same time, it ordered that the priests should be appointed according to the rules of the Agama and a five-member committee should be appointed to ascertain whether the rules of the Agama are properly followed.
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Similarly, various writ petitions were filed in the Supreme Court in this regard. Among them is a petition by senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. In that petition, it was mentioned that an interim ban should be imposed on the appointment of new priests on the issue that all castes can become priests, and those already in service should be suspended.
The petition came up for hearing on Monday before a bench headed by Justice Hemant Gupta.
At that time, the Tamil Nadu government said that no interim ban could be placed on the decision to appoint priests from all castes.
Further, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government to respond to Subramanian Swamy’s petition.
Further, the Supreme Court said that Subramanian Swamy’s writ petition will be heard along with the pending writ petitions.