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Subramanian Swamy vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors. AIR2015SC460 Subramanian Swamy vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors. AIR2015SC460

1) Sapthagiri temple cannot be considered a separate religious denomination as it lacks distinct followers and a common name. 2) Even if considered a denomination, it cannot restrict entry of women, disabled people, or those with diseases as doing so violates constitutional rights of equality and non-discrimination. 3) However, others argue that Sapthagiri temple is a religious denomination as its visitors constitute a group belonging to the Hindu religion, so it has rights as a denomination under Article 26.

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Subramanian Swamy vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors. AIR2015SC460 Subramanian Swamy vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors. AIR2015SC460

1) Sapthagiri temple cannot be considered a separate religious denomination as it lacks distinct followers and a common name. 2) Even if considered a denomination, it cannot restrict entry of women, disabled people, or those with diseases as doing so violates constitutional rights of equality and non-discrimination. 3) However, others argue that Sapthagiri temple is a religious denomination as its visitors constitute a group belonging to the Hindu religion, so it has rights as a denomination under Article 26.

Uploaded by

Ronak Patidar
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Sapthagiri is not a religious denomination because there is no particular follower of this temple

except general Hindu followers visiting the temple; and mere attraction of some people for some
temple does not make it a separate and distinct religious denomination.1 The term 'religious
denomination' means collection of individuals having a system of belief, a common organisation;
and designation of a distinct name.2

Sects or sub-sects can certainly be called a religious denomination because the followers have a
distinct name like The followers of Ramanuja, who are known by the name of Shri Vaishnabas,
but the people who come to worship at Sapthagiri are not known by any distinct name hence they
don’t fulfill the requisite to be called a religious denomination.3 If it doesn’t come under the
category of religious denomination, then it cannot claim the right under Article 26 and it would
come within the purview of Article 12 making it subject to Articles 14 and 15 and, hence, the
State would be restrained from denying equal protection of law and cannot discriminate. Even
those institutions which are held to be denominations and claim protection under Article 26
cannot deny entry to any person for the purpose of darshan and the ex facie denial of women
between the age group of 10 to 50 years, lunatics, beggars etc. violates Articles 14, 15, 21 and
25 of the Constitution.

Even if we assume Sapthagiri as a religious denomination it cannot restrict entry of women in the
bracket of 10 to 50 years, lunatics, people with contagious diseases etc. at all times because all
that a religious denomination may do is to restrict the entry of a particular class or section in
certain rituals. The right of a denomination to wholly exclude members of the public from
worshipping in the temple, though comprised in Art. 26(b), must yield to the overriding right
declared by Art. 25(2)(b) in favour of the public to enter into a temple for worship. If the
denominational rights are such that to give effect to them would substantially reduce the right
conferred by Art. 25(2)(b), then of course, on our conclusion that Art. 25(2)(b) prevails as

1
Indian Young Lawyers Association and Ors. vs. State of Kerala and Ors. (13.10.2017 - SC) :
MANU/SC/1315/2017
2
Subramanian Swamy vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors. AIR2015SC460

3
Subramanian Swamy vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors. AIR2015SC460
against Art. 26(b), the denominational rights must vanish.4 Even a religious denomination is
allowed to only protect the practices which are essential to its religion, the exclusion of women,
lunatics etc. is not an essential practice as it does not satisfy the test of essential practice as has
been laid down by this Court in Commissioner of Police and others v Acharya
Jagadishwarananda Avadhuta and another.

Sapthagiri is a religious denomination because the present definition of denomination in Oxford


dictionary is that any group or branch of any religion and the people who are visiting the temple
constitute a group of Hindu religion. In Commissioner, HR & CE v LT Swamiar the Hon’ble
Court adopted the meaning of the word denomination as given in the Oxford dictionary (as
existed at that time) which read a collection of individuals classed together under the same name;
a religious sect or body having a common faith and organization and designated by a distinctive
name is a denomination. Similarly relying on the present definition of Oxford dictionary
Sapthagiri constitutes a religious denomination as the group of people who are visiting the
temple they belong to a religion.

Religion as defined in, Lilly Thomas v. Union of India5, is a matter of faith stemming from the
depth of the heart and mind. Religion is a belief which binds the spiritual nature of man to a
supernatural being; it is an object of conscientious devotion, faith and pietism. The devotees of
Sapthagiri Temple have the same belief that is the reason they live a strenuous life of 41 days in
order to strengthen the binding between their spiritual nature and supernatural being therefore
they follow a religion and the entire group of the religion is a denomination hence they have
right to religious denomination under article 26 (b).

4
Sri Venkatramana Devaru v. State of Mysore and others AIR 1958 SC 255
5
AIR 2013 SC 2662

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