No constitutional bar on minor being initiated into sanyasa: High Court
The Hindu
Petition challenging appointment of 16-year-old boy as Shiroor mutt seer rejected
The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday rejected a petition against anointment of a minor boy as the 31st seer of Udupi Shiroor Mutt while holding that there is no statutory or constitutional bar on a person aged below 18 being initiated into sanyasa.
“The petition has not been able to make out violation of any statutory provisions or any violation of constitutional rights guaranteed to respondent Aniruddha Saralathaya (now named Vedavardhana Titrtha) as the peetadhipathi of Shiroor Mutt. The essential religious practice has been going on for 800 years and the appointment of pontiff is a practice for the last 800 years indicative of the philosophy and teaching of Sri Madhvacharya,” the court said.
A Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Shnkar Magadum delivered the verdict while dismissing the petition filed by P. Lathavya Acharya, secretary and managing trustee of Sri Shiroor Mutt Bhaktha Samiti, Udupi, along with three other officebearers of the samiti.