The Karnataka High Court has affirmed that the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act 1997 does not apply to a Math or a Temple attached to or managed by a Math, and thus no directions to the state government can be issued to exercise its executive power to regulate them. According to a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice S Vishwajith Shetty, “The 1997 Act does not apply to the provisions of the Maths. There is a conscious omission on the part of the Legislature in keeping the Maths out of the purview of the Act, which is also evident from the statement of objects and reasons of Karnataka Act No.27 of 2011 namely the Amendment Act.”

The statement was made while assessing a public interest litigation filed by devotees of Sri.Ramachandrapura Math, alleging abuse of power by seer Raghaveshwara Bharathi Swamiji and asking a probe into the Math’s affairs about tax evasion and other violations of tax laws. The petitioners also requested the formation of a commission to recommend the successor to the Peetadhipathi of the Ramachandrapura Math, as well as a directive to the government to develop a plan to regulate all mutts in the state.

The bench noted that the State government revised the 1997 Act in 2011, and the legislative intention to exclude Maths is clear from the Amendment Act’s statement of objects and reasons. The bench also refused to frame a scheme and stated that, “The hallmark of our Constitution is to build a society to attain justice and erase inequities flowing from religion, gender, caste and privileges. In this background, Articles 25 to 30 are incorporated in the Constitution. Article 25(1) of the Constitution guarantees the freedom of conscience, the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and health. Article 26 confers the right to establish institutions for religious or charitable purposes and to maintain its own affairs in the matter of religion, on every religious denomination, subject to public order, morality and health.”