The Madras high court on Monday held that caste may have no position within the appointment of monks in temples, the place the one requirement is for the individual to be well-versed, correctly skilled and certified to carry out the pooja, as per the necessities of the mentioned temple.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh handed the decision whereas disposing of a 2018 petition mentioned, “At the risk of repetition, it is made abundantly clear that the pedigree based on caste will have no role to play in the appointment of Archaka [priest] if the person so selected otherwise satisfies the requirements.”

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The orders have been handed because the courtroom disposed of the case filed by Muthu Subramania Gurukkal difficult an commercial in 2018 by the Tamil Nadu division of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) for recruiting Archakas/Sthanikam (monks) on the Sri Sugavaneswarar Swamy Temple in Tamil Nadu’s Salem district, stating that it infringes his hereditary rights. The petitioner, Gurukkal, had taken over the place as Sthanikam from his grandfather, as his household of Sivachariyars have been performing poojas from “time immemorial”.

Announcing the choice, justice Venkatesh cited the Supreme Court’s verdict within the 2016 All India Adi Saiva Sivachariargal Seva Sangam’s versus Government of Tamil Nadu case, the place the highest courtroom had held that the appointment of a temple priest is a secular operate and never a couple of hereditary proper. The high courtroom had held that the spiritual service by an Archaka is the secular a part of the faith and the efficiency of the spiritual service is an integral a part of the faith.

Noting that there is no such thing as a dispute to the truth that the temple in query is an Agamic temple the place appointment of Archakas needs to be ruled by the principles of the Agama, the courtroom directed the Executive Officer of temple (third respondent) to concern an commercial consistent with the observations cited from the apex courtroom. The courtroom additionally permitted the petitioner to carry out the poojas until the appointments and gave him the freedom to take part within the choice course of.

However, to convey extra readability on the appointments in future, the courtroom handled the extra grounds raised by the petitioner. The Madras high court, citing the 2016 order by the highest courtroom, mentioned, “Any person belonging to any caste or creed can be appointed as an Archaka, provided he is a well-versed and an accomplished person in the Agamas and rituals necessary to be performed in a temple.”

In the 2022 case of N Adithayan versus Travancore Devaswom Board, the Supreme Court had held that there is no such thing as a justification to insist that solely a Brahmin (on this case, a Malayali Brahmin) alone can carry out the rites and rituals. The apex courtroom had frowned on insisting for a pedigree based mostly on caste to carry out the rites and rituals in a temple, the Madras excessive courtroom mentioned.