In a significant ruling reaffirming the constitutional autonomy of religious denominations, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court comprising Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. has allowed Writ Appeal and declared Section 9 of the Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board Act, 2015 (KDRB Act) unconstitutional and inoperative insofar as it applies to the Guruvayoor Devaswom.
The appeal arose from the dismissal of a writ petition challenging the power of the Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board (KDRB) to prepare select lists for appointments to posts in the Guruvayoor Devaswom. The appellants, including the Guruvayoor Devaswom Employees Union Congress, contended that such power violated Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution and ran contrary to the law laid down by a Full Bench in Krishnan v. Guruvayoor Devaswom Managing Committee (1979 KLT 350).
Allowing the appeal, the Division Bench held that the Guruvayoor Devaswom Act, 1978 is a special statute enacted specifically to govern the administration of the Guruvayoor Temple and that Section 19 of the 1978 Act expressly vests the power of appointment of officers and employees in the Guruvayoor Devaswom Managing Committee, the representative body of the religious denomination. The Court ruled that the later-enacted KDRB Act, being a general law applicable to multiple Devaswom Boards, cannot override or dilute the special statutory autonomy granted under the 1978 Act, despite the presence of a non-obstante clause in Section 9 of the KDRB Act.
The Bench further held that the right to appoint temple staff is an essential component of the right to administer religious affairs under Article 26, and vesting such power in an external statutory body like the KDRB amounts to an unconstitutional interference with denominational autonomy. The Court noted that the KDRB mechanism substantially replicated the defect earlier found unconstitutional in the Guruvayoor Devaswom Act, 1971, which had been struck down in its entirety.
Setting aside the Single Judge’s order, the Court declared Section 9 of the KDRB Act unconstitutional, quashed all recruitment notifications issued by the KDRB in relation to Guruvayoor Devaswom posts, and directed that all future appointments must be carried out strictly in accordance with the Guruvayoor Devaswom Act, 1978.
Appearances:
For the Appellants: Smt. M.U. Vijayalakshmi, Advocate; Sri. K. Jaju Babu, Senior Advocate; Sri. Brijesh Mohan, Advocate; Sri. Sachin Ramesh, Advocate; Sri. Manikantan S. Kandathil, Advocate; Smt. Aishwarya Satheesan, Advocate; Smt. Sreelakshmi S. N., Advocate
For the Respondents: Sri. K. P. Harish, Senior Government Pleader – for Respondent No. 1 (State of Kerala) Sri. V. V. Nandagopal Nambiar, Standing Counsel, Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board – for Respondent No. 2 Sri. T. K. Vipindas, Standing Counsel – for Respondent No. 3 (Guruvayoor Devaswom Managing Committee)
