Priests can be of all castes in non-agama temples: HC

CHENNAI: About 15 years after M Karunanidhi's DMK government in Tamil Nadu issued an order smashing the caste barrier in the appointment of archakas to top temples, the Madras HC upheld its legality but said the agama of each temple should be the deciding factor, reports Sureshkumar K.
The government could appoint people of any caste as archakas in temples established not as per agamas. However, in agama-based temples, archakas could be appointed only as per the agama of the temple concerned, said the bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N Mala on Monday.
"We have threadbare analysed the provisions of the rules and find rules 7 and 9 cannot be held to be unconstitutional as such, because it is not only applicable to appointment of archakas but even to other posts," said the bench.
The bench also constituted a committee headed by a retired judge of the court, Justice M Chockalingam, to identify temples that follow agamas and prepare a list. "If the rules are struck down, it will create a situation where the appointment to posts other than that of archakas would remain unguided," the judges said.