Supreme Court Asks Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board To Halt Selection Process For Guruvayur Devaswom Posts

The Supreme Court today orally asked the Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board to halt the selection process for Guruvayur temple Devaswom posts.A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta impressed the same upon the Board's counsels, who then agreed to advise the Board accordingly."Senior Advocate V Giri, for petitioner(KDRB), on instructions of the AoR, states that he would advise his clients not to proceed with the selection process. List on March 10 for final disposal. All intervenors shall be heard on the said date", the bench recorded.The development came after a counsel, for an intervenor, submitted before the Court that despite a stay being ordered on January 29 on the selection process, the Board issued a provisional list inviting all eligible candidates to participate in the selection process."As on today, the Act is ex facie unconstitutional. It was struck down by a 5 judge bench of the Kerala High Court on the ground that it violates Article 25, 26 - the power has to be with the Managing Committee", he urged, while asserting that the top Court's stay did not authorize the Board the start its own selection process.In response, the bench asked Giri to begin arguments, but the senior counsel sought some time. As the matter was adjourned, Justice Mehta said, "You stop making the recruitments in the meantime. That would be unfair. Simply because we have entertained your SLP on a question of law...supposing the order was to [...], what would happen to your recruitments in the meantime? You can't take advantage of this court's order in this way"."You better advise [or] we will injunct you," added Justice Nath.To recap, in January this year, the Kerala High Court held unconstitutional Section 9 of the Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board Act, 2015 (KDRB Act) which empowers the KDRB to prepare select lists for the appointment of candidates to various posts in the Guruvayoor Devaswom posts.The High Court examined whether the Guruvayoor Devaswom Act, 1978, a special enactment governing a single temple institution, could be overridden by the later KDRB Act, which establishes a centralized recruitment mechanism for all Devaswom Boards.It was observed that a special law prevails over a general law, and the mere presence of a non obstante clause in the later enactment cannot be read so expansively as to obliterate the legislative intent behind a prior special enactment, particularly one governing a unique and constitutionally protected religious institution like the Guruvayoor Devaswom.The Court noted that Section 9 of the KDRB Act must be read harmoniously with Section 19 of the Act of 1978, so as to preserve the exclusive statutory autonomy of the Guruvayoor Devaswom Board in matters of appointment, while giving effect to the objectives of the KDRB Act to the extent they are not inconsistent with the special provisions of the Act of 1978.“Section 9 of the KDRB Act cannot supersede or override Section 19 of the Act of 1978. The Act of 1978 is a special and self-contained statute, enacted with the specific object of regulating the administration of the Guruvayoor Devaswom, and Section 19 expressly vests the statutory power of appointment of officers and employees in the Managing Committee."It revisited the Full Bench ruling in Krishnan v. Guruvayoor Devaswom Managing Committee (1979 KLT 350), which struck down the earlier Guruvayoor Devaswom Act, 1971 Act for transferring appointment powers to a government-dominated body.The Court held that the right to appoint staff is integral to the right to manage religious affairs under Article 26 of the Constitution of India and the principle established in Krishnan, that vesting power of appointment in a body separate from the denominational representative violates Article 26 remains valid.The Court thus concluded that Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board, like the invalidated Board under the 1971 Act, is not a representative of the religious denomination.“By transferring the power to prepare select lists from the GDMC to the KDRB, the legislature has once again taken a core administrative function away from the religious denomination's representative body."It was further observed that since the Act of 1978 was promulgated with the President's Assent, its specific provisions should prevail over the KDRB Act passed by the State Legislature, especially on a concurrent list subject, unless the KDRB Act also received President's Assent.“Under the constitutional framework governing conflict resolution and judicial precedent, Section 19 of the Act of 1978 is the stronger provision and would prevail, thereby rendering Section 9 of the KDRB Act inoperative as it is inconsistent with Section 19 of the Act of 1978. Accordingly, Section 9 of the KDRB Act is struck down.”At last, the Court declared Section 9 of the KDRB Act unconstitutional and inoperative with respect to Guruvayoor Devaswom and reaffirmed that Section 19 of the Guruvayoor Devaswom Act, 1978 governs...

Supreme Court Asks Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board To Halt Selection Process For Guruvayur Devaswom Posts

Debby Jain

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