Quoting from the Bhagavad Gita, the bench of Justice G Jayachandran and Justice E Manoharan observed as under,

“Before we proceed, it is necessary to extract the following from Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 9 Verse 29 [Translated] “I am equally disposed to all living beings. I am neither partial to anyone nor do I hate anyone. But those who worship Me with devotion, they are in Me and I am in them.”- Lord Krishna In the eyes of God, all living beings are equal and God does not discriminate,” the court said.

The court was hearing a plea by a resident of Kancheepuram alleging that there was discrimination against non-Brahmins in Arulmigu Devaraja Swamigal Temple at Kanchipuram and in particular in the Sri Manavala Mamunigal Shrine.

The petitioner submitted that he was a devotee of Lord Devarajaswamy at Kancheepuram. He submitted that in the shrine of Manavala Mamunigal, there were two entrances – one main entrance and a side entrance, and non-Brahmin devotees were not permitted to use the main entrance, which was clear discrimination. He also alleged that non-Brahmins were not permitted to recite the hymns in all shrines of Devarajaswamy Temple. The petitioner also alleged discrimination in the distribution of prasadam, theertham, and satari.

The petitioner argued that the Assistant Commissioner of HR & CE had even issued a letter stating that there should not be any discrimination and if any discrimination was found, strict action would be taken. He submitted that even after the same, discrimination continued in the temple, due to which he approached the court.

The Executive Trustee of the temple denied the allegations of discrimination and submitted that it was practically impossible to allow all public inside the sub shrines since the same were small structures. The temple administration assured the court that they will not discriminate any portion of the public in the matter of distribution of theertham, prasadam and satari and all members would be treated equally.

With respect to recital of hymns, the court was told that the same was a statutory right secured on the Adhyabaga Mirasi (part of Thengalai Sect) and carried the right of remuneration and preferential right of honors. It was submitted that except the above, the administrative body of the temple did not prevent either the petitioner or anyone else from reciting the Nalayira Dhivya Pradandham in any shrines of the Temple at any time if they wanted to worship.

The court took note of the submissions and held that if the same is preserved, there would be no discrimination occurring by following any tradition. Thus, considering the submission, the court closed the plea.

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. S. Shanmugasundaram and Mr. S. Senthilnathan

Counsel for Respondents: Mr. R. Bharanidharan, Spl. Government Pleader (HR&CE), Mrs. Hema Sampath, Senior Counsel for Ms. R. Meenal

Case Title: Madhavan Ramanuja Dasan v The Commissioner, HR & CE

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 396

Case No: WP No 9273 of 2019