Author: Rakesh Bhatnagar
Publication: The Times of India
Date: October 5, 2002
In a blow to those who advocated
Brahmins only for priesthood, the supreme court has ruled that non-Brahmins
can also perform religious ceremonies and work as temple priests as long
as they are well versed with the relevant rituals and rites.
Throwing open all Hindu religious
institutions including temples - to all classes and sections of Hindus,
the court said, "Any custom or usage irrespective of even any proof of
their existence in pre-constitutional days cannot be countenanced as a
source of law to claim any rights when it is found to violate human rights,
dignity, social equality and the specific mandate of the constitution and
law by parliament".
The court added: "No usage which
is found to be pernicious and considered to be in derogation of the law
of the land or opposed to public policy or social decency can be accepted
or upheld by courts in the country".
Resolving a dispute over the appointment
of a non-Malayali Brahmin as the priest of an ancient temple managed by
the Travancore Devaswom Board, a Bench comprising Justice S. Rajendra Babu
and Justice Doraiswamy Raju also sought to delve into various issues of
vital constitutional, social and public importance having certain religious
overtones.
Upholding a Kerala high court judgment
which held that it was not essential that only a Brahmin, who was not qualified
nor versed with the rituals, could become the priest of the temple, the
Bench recalled a 1966 judgment which had said: "Hinduism is far more than
a mere form of theism resting on Brahminism".
The court also referred to Article
17 of the Constitution which abolishes untouchability and recalled revelations
made in the Gita and Mahatama Gandhi's dream that all distinctions based
on castes and creed must be abolished and "man must be known and recognised
by his actions, irrespective of the caste to which he may on account of
his birth belong".
Emphasising the importance of daily
rituals, poojas and recitations to maintain the sanctity of the idol, the
Bench said "no doubt only a qualified person well versed and properly trained
for the purposes alone can perform poojas in the temple since he has not
only to enter into the sanctum sanctorum but also touch the idol installed
there".
The court further said that if traditionally
or conventionally, in any temple, all along a Brahmin alone was conducting
poojas or performing the job priest, it may not be because a person other
than the Brahmin was prohibited from doing so.