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Uttarakhand HC: Constitutional Validity of UK Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act Upheld
The High Court of Uttarakhand had dismissed BJP leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy’s PIL challenging the constitutional validity of Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019.
The Division Bench of the High Court comprising of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice R. C. Khulbe while dismissing the plea said that “Except to the limited extent that the words 'shall devolve' in Section 22 must be read as 'devolve on the Char Dham and shall be maintained by the Board', and the words 'may further acquire land', in the proviso thereto, shall be read as 'may further acquire land on behalf of the Char Dham', the challenge to the validity of the 2019 Act, on the ground that it violates Articles 14, 25, 26 and 31-A of the Constitution of India, must fail.”
The Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019, entrusted the management of the Char Dham Temples to the board whose Chairman and members will be selected by the state government. Previously two of the Char Dham Temples, Shri Badrinath and Shri Kedarnath Temples were controlled by the management constituted under the U.P. Shri Badrinath and Shri Kedarnath Temples Act, 1939, which was repealed by the act of 2019 which also included Gangotri and Yamnotri Dham within its ambit.
Dr. Swamy had challenged the validity of new act, by stating that it violates the Articles 14, 25, 26, and 31-A of the constitution, and along with him the society of Gangotri Dham has also questioned the validity of the act by filing a writ petition.
The court rejecting the challenge on the ground that it violates article 14 said that, classifying of these temples and bringing them within in the ambit of the new act for its proper management by the board is undoubtedly reasonable.
In the context of Article 26 the court observed that as none of the Char Dham Temples have been established by the religious denomination, no right is available under the clauses (a), (c), and (d) of Article 26, to manage the temples.
Finally, in the context of section 22 of the Act, the court said that “The words 'shall devolve' in Section 22 shall be read as 'devolve on the Char Dham and shall be maintained by the Board'. Likewise, the words 'may further acquire land', in the proviso thereto, shall be read as 'may further acquire land on behalf of the Char Dham'. When so read, the legislative intent that the properties of the Char Dham temples shall continue to vest in it, as declared in Section 4(2) of the 2019 Act, would be given effect to; and the power of the Board would thereby be confined only to the administration and management of the properties of the Char Dham Devasthanam. When so read, Section 22 and its proviso would be saved from being struck down as ultra vires the provisions of the Constitution.”
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