Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) – The Himachal Pradesh High Court has ruled that temple funds cannot be diverted, transmitted, or donated to any Government welfare scheme or to activities unrelated to the temple or religious activities, stressing that devotees contribute with the belief that their offerings will be used for the care of Deities, temple maintenance, and the promotion of Sanatan Dharma. The Court has also given a detailed list of 31 sectors in which these funds can be used.
Temple funds will primarily be used for education on Vedas and Yoga
1. The Court said that temple funds will only be utilised to further religious, spiritual and Dharmic activities, including the teaching and promotion of Vedas, Yoga, Sanskrit, temple renovation, charitable work and welfare of devotees.
2. The funds should be used for providing disaster relief in the spirit of Dharma, but not as a contribution to the various funds of Government and someone else, but by providing it directly in the name of the temple, by the Trust without any mediator, including Government.
Mandatory to declare the monthly income and expenditure of the temples
The Court specified that temples should publicly display their monthly income and expenditure, details of projects funded by donations, and audit summaries on notice boards or websites, to instil confidence in the devotees that their donations are being utilised for the propagation of the religion and welfare of Hindus.
Where it is found that any trustee has misutilised or caused to misutilise the funds of the temple, it will be recovered from him and he will be personally held liable for the misutilisation of such funds.
Where were the funds being misused ?
According to information received, the temple donations were being used for non-religious activities such as construction of roads and bridges, Government welfare schemes and construction of public buildings. They were also being used for personal gain, investment in private industries and buying expensive gifts for the dignitaries visiting the temple. The Court has ordered an immediate ban on all these expenses.
The Court observed that under Article 25 of the Constitution of India, the state has been vested with power, rather mandated, to take every step for reform of Hindu society.
Editor Perspectives
All this is the result of Governments taking over temples. The decision of the HP High Court should be implemented by temples all over the country. Hindu religious organisations, Saints, etc. should launch a massive public campaign to accomplish this.
Source : Sanatan Prabhat
