Public vs Private Temple Caselaws
In Teki Venkata Ratnam vs Dy. Commissioner, Endowment, context of Section 87 of Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions & Endowments Act, 1987, the Supreme Court observed:
Sub-section (6) raises a presumption in respect of the matters covered by clauses (a) to (e) of sub-section (1) that the institution or the endowment is public one and that burden of proof in all such cases shall lie on the person claiming the institution or the endowment to be private. Thus, it is amply clear that the Deputy Commissioner has jurisdiction to enquire into and decide the dispute covered by clauses (a) to (g) of sub- section (1). Sub-section (6) has sufficient indication that in such an enquiry, there will be presumption that the institution or endowment is public one and burden lies on the person claiming institution or endowment to be private. Thus, when there is a dispute as to whether a temple is a public or private one, the same falls within the purview of Section 87 for the purpose of enquiry and decision.
