State Facilitating Battles Within A Religious Sect: Gujarat High Court Quashes Externment Order Passed Against Priests

The Gujarat High Court last week rebuked the state government for facilitating battles within a religious sect as it quashed externment order passed against two religious priests of the Gadhada temple on account of an ongoing dispute within the Swaminarayan sect concerning temple trust elections.

Essentially, the Bench of Justice Paresh Upadhyay was hearing two pleas filed by the two priests of the Gadhada temple — Swami Satyaprakashdasji and Swami Ghanshyamvallabhdasji (petitioners) assailing the externment order passed against them by the Botad district authorities.

The case before the Court

The petitioners claimed that they were externed for a period of two years from several districts – Botad, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Rajkot, Surendranagar and Ahmedabad by the SDM, Botad in the exercise of powers under Section 56 of the Gujarat Police Act, 1951.

Significantly, both of them were externed by way of an Order, as per the recommendations made by the police, while taking into account the fact there was an ongoing dispute between two sides of the Swaminarayan sect (one belonging to Acharya Paksha and the second one to Dev Paksha).

The Court observed that in the notice issued to them, and in the order passed against them, the election of the Trust, which manages the religious sect (Swaminarayan sec) to which the petitioners belong, was treated as a factor to pass the externment orders against the petitioners.

Earlier, vide order dated June 15, 021, the Court had stayed the execution of the impugned orders.

Court's observations

Taking into account the material on record, the Court, at the outset, noted that the stakes of the temple trust election were so high that there the matter even reached upto the Supreme Court of India.

In this regard, the Court observed thus:

"This further fortifies the prima facie satisfaction of this Court that, the State, through its instrumentalities, has been facilitating the battles, including the legal battles, of one side against the other side, including by resorting to externment orders of the Priests of one group of the same religious sect."

Further, considering the material on record, including the satisfaction of the concerned S.D.M. to order externment of the petitioners, the Court was of the view that by any parameter, the impugned externment orders are unsustainable and need to be set aside.

"The glaring aspect is the high-handedness of the police officials, which is readily accepted by the Revenue Authorities through the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. In totality, these petitions need to be allowed," the Court further riiled.

Therefore, allowing both the petitions, the impugned orders passed by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Botad, were quashed and set aside.

Case title - Swami Satyaprakashdasji Guru Ghanshyamprasad Dasji & Swami Ghanshyamvallabhdasji Guru Swami Narayanpriyadasji v. State Of Gujarat & Ors.

Click here To Download Order

Read Order