Deity is owner of land attached to temple, priest cannot be treated as ‘Bhumiswami’: Supreme Court
The Hindu
A Bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and A. S. Bopanna said the ‘pujari’, or priest, only holds the land for the purpose of management of the property of the temple.
A priest cannot be treated as Bhumiswami (owner of land) and the deity is the owner of the land attached to a temple, the Supreme Court has ruled. A Bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and A. S. Bopanna said the ‘pujari’, or priest, only holds the land for the purpose of management of the property of the temple. “In the ownership column, the name of the deity alone is required to be mentioned, as the deity being a juristic person is the owner of the land. The occupation of the land is also by the deity which is carried out by the servant or the managers on behalf of the deity. Therefore, the name of the manager or that of the priest is not required to be mentioned in the column of occupier as well,” the top court said on Monday.More Related News