MAHANT NARAYANA DASJEE VARU THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES THE TIRUMALAI TIRUPATHI DEVASTHANAM Vs. BOARD OF TRUSTEES THE TIRUMALAI TIRUPATHI DEVASTHANAM MAHANT NARAYANA DASJEE VARU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These four appeals which are on certificates of fitness granted by the High Court of Andhra Pradesh arise out of decrees passed in applications filed under O. 20, R. l2, Civil Procedure Code in two suits brought by the Tirumalai Tirupathi Devastham Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Devasthanam Committee) the predecessor of the respondents for the ascertainment of mesne profits of the Devasthanam properties in the possession of the Mahant of the Sri Hathiramjee Mutt who is the Vicharanikartha or manager of the Tirumalai Tirupathi temples was previously in management of the properties of the temple. From the decrees passed by the Principal Subordinate Judge of Chittoor in the two applications, to the details of which we shall refer presently, two appeals were filed to the High Court and they were there consolidated for hearing and are covered by a common judgment. As the judgment of the High Court somewhat varied the decree granted by the Subordinate Judge the learned Judges granted a certificate of fitness under Art. 133(1) of the Constitution. Appeals 106 and 107 have been filed by the Mahant while the Devasthanam Committee have preferred appeals 108 and 109.

(2.) The properties which are the subject matter of these proceedings belong to the Idol installed in the famous temple of Tirupathi in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The East India Company were, till about the middle of the last century, in management and administration of the properties of this famous temple of Lord Venkateswara or Srinivasa, also known as Balaji in Northern India and the other connected temples, and after the Madras Regulation 7 of 1817 was passed it was placed under the control and management of the Board of Revenue who carried on the administration through the Collector of the District. As is well-known, there was a movement in England in about 1840 which disapproved a Christian Government like the East India Company being incharge of or administering Hindu or Muslim religious institutions and the Board of Directors in conformity with these ideas, effected a change in their policy, and as a result of orders passed by the Board of Directors the authorities in India relinquished charge of the management of such institutions. Among these institutions was the Devasthanam of Tirupathi-Tirumalai group of temples, and under orders of the Government the management of the properties of the Devasthanam was transferred to the Mahant of Sri Hathiramjee Mutt (whom we shall hereafter refer for convenience as the Mahant) who, as the head of that Mutt, had his headquarters at Tirupathi.

(3.) The successors in the office of the Mahant of the Mutt were, in accordance with the sanad by which the East India Company transferred the right of management, successively in management of the institution but during later years there were complaints of mismanagement and in the early years of this century a suit was instituted under S. 92 of the Civil Procedure Code for the framing of a scheme for the better management of the institution and such a scheme was framed by the District Court which was, with some modification, affirmed by the High Court and later by the Privy Council Vide Prayag Das Ji v.Triumala Srirangacharla, ILR 30 Mad 138 (PC). As the administration even under this scheme proved unsatisfactory and there were several serious charges of mismanagement alleged against the Mahant in regard to the affairs of the temple the Madras Legislature enacted Act 19 of 1933 - The Tirumalai Tirupathi Devasthanam Act. The Act came into force on June 6, 1933. Its S. 2 enacted :