BENGALURU, 21, MARCH

Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has returned the controversial Karnataka Hindu Religious and Temple Endowments (Amendment) Bill, 2024, to the State government seeking clarifications.

In the file sent back to the government on 14 March—a copy of which is available with Salar News —Gehlot said Karnataka Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act,1997, and amendments made in the years 2011 and 2012 have been struck down by the High Court's Dharwad bench. High court's decision has been challenged in Supreme Court. The apex court has stayed High Court's order and the case is in the final hearing stage.

“Since the case is still pending in Supreme Court, it is necessary to get more clarifications, whether the amendment can be made during the case pendency, specifically, when the entire Act has already been struck down by High Court,” he said.  

He has asked whether the government has conceptualised any legislation to encompass other religious bodies.

Speaking to Salar News on Thursday, Muzrai Minister Ramalinga Reddy said the government will reply to the clarifications as they are simple ones.  “Status quo is being maintained after Supreme Court stayed High Court's order on the 2011 and 2012 amendments made to the Bill by BJP government,” he added.

The Bill seeks to help the 35,000 Hindu temples and their families with less income. It envisages increasing the burden on revenue-earning temples and passing the extra funds to temples with lesser income.  The funds would be used to support the priests and their children for education and other needs.

After the Bill was initially defeated in the Council, Karnataka Hindu Temple Archakas (Priests) Association on 25 February said they wanted the temples to be free of politics. They accused BJP of using temples to gain votes ahead of Lok Sabha elections, and said that they were united against the “false propaganda.” 

The Association members claim they get a salary of Rs 5,000 per month, which includes the items required for pooja.  "Nobody supports us, and when the Muzrai Minister is trying to do something for the upliftment of the temples whose revenues are low, he should not be obstructed. A party which claims to represent Hindus’ interests has done injustice to the community by acting in a way that is detrimental to its temples and priests,'' they told the media.

The Bill-- a brainchild of  Reddy--was passed by Karnataka Legislative Assembly on 23 February but was defeated in the Legislative Council with 18 BJP and JD(S) MLCs voting against it. Opposition leader in the Council Kota Srinivasa Poojary said the government needs to support the poorer temples with its revenues and not out of the funds of the richer temples.

Later the Bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly once again on 29 February, it was sent to the Governor for his assent.

The Bill proposes to collect 5 per cent from temples whose gross income is between Rs 10 lakh and less than Rs 1 crore, and 10 per cent from temples whose income is above Rs 1 crore.

There are around 35,000 temples under the Muzrai Department, of which 205 whose income exceeds Rs 25 lakh per year. They are categorised as Group A. Nearly 193 temples have incomes between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 25 lakh and fall into the Group B category. Around 34,000 temples with incomes below 5 lakh are Group C. —Salar News