Acharya's Role A Traditional Duty, Not Employment: Allahabad High Court Allows Padma Awardee To Continue Rituals At Kashi Vishwanath Temple

A bench of Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery, while deciding the writ petition filed in 2000, held that the "position of Acharya is a traditional position or can be said to be a responsibility, which cannot be compared with that of any ordinary employee of the Temple".

The Court thus quashed the impugned termination orders (qua Dr. Dwivedi) dated 12 July 2000 and 22 February 2023 holding them to be factually and legally erroneous and tainted with prejudice.

It also directed that Dr. Dwivedi would continue to perform the nightly 'Shringar Bhog Aarti' at the temple as before, though without any honorarium but with full respect and dignity.

Case in brief

In the year 1994, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust appointed Dr. Dwivedi as Acharya for duly conducting the night-time Bhog Aarti in the temple and also entrusted him with the responsibility of imparting training to the priests of the Temple in rituals (Karmkand etc.).

An honorary payment of ₹1500 per month was recommended and his position was expressly stated to be temporary and terminable at any time.

Subsequently, in its meeting on 27 May 1995, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust unanimously appreciated Dr. Dwivedi's devotion, extraordinary sincerity and contribution to the temple's administration and cultural life and his honorarium was enhanced to ₹3000 per month while extending his term for three years.

In 1998, the Trust again reviewed his work and unanimously decided to remove the one-year limit mentioned in the appointment order and further raised his honorarium to ₹3500 per month.

The turning point came in 2000, when a senior government officer (then serving as Chief Secretary) reportedly wished to perform an elaborate personal ritual inside the Temple requiring privacy.

Dr. Dwivedi, as Acharya, requested that such exclusive puja not be done at the cost of ordinary devotees' access.

This purportedly annoyed the officer, who set up a proxy complainant to lodge a complaint alleging that Dr Dwivedi appointment was illegal and that financial irregularities had occurred.

Acting on this complaint, an ex-parte inquiry was conducted and on 12 July 2000, the CEO passed the impugned order holding that Dr. Dwivedi's term had not been extended beyond 24 June 1998 and that his services had "automatically come to an end".

The order also stated that the honorarium paid to him was not in accordance with law and that separate orders would be issued for recovery.

Challenging this impugned order of his termination, Dr. Dwivedi moved the HC and in August 2002 he secured an interim order staying the termination. The stay was complied with and Dr. Dwivedi continued to perform his duties.

Over the years, he was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri and served as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (2016-2018) and he also continued to discharge his Acharya duties at the temple.

Now in 2023, the Kashi Vishwanath Trust Board, in its 104th meeting decided that since Dr. Dwivedi had crossed the age of 60 years (October 2016), he could not be paid honorarium or retained in service.

It reasoned that his appointment had been without creation of a post and that currently all priests are highly qualified and capable of performing all rituals; hence no training (from Dr. Dwivedi) was required.

Aggrieved, Dr. Dwivedi filed a contempt application stating that the 2023 resolution of the Temple Trust Board violated the High Court's interim order of 2002.

On 3 March 2023, the Court directed that he shall continue to perform the nightly Shringar Bhog Aarti between 8 and 10 PM and even the Trust's counsel agreed to this arrangement. However, Dr. Dwivedi could not perform the Aarti regularly due to some personal reasons.

Before the HC, Dr. Dwivedi submitted that the order impugned was influenced by prejudice and that he wished to perform the nightly Bhog Aarti of Lord Vishwanath with full devotion, as long as his body permits him.

On the other hand, the Trust submitted that it had no doubt regarding the petitioner's scholarship, devotion or sincerity in performing rituals in the temple. It was also stated that the Trust would honor any decision passed by this Court.

Court's Observations

Against this backdrop, taking into account the history of the case, Justice Shamshery noted that the Trust itself had never considered Dr. Dwivedi a 'regular employee' of the temple and therefore, invoking the provisions of the 1983 Act against him was legally unsustainable.

The Court held that the impugned order dated 12 July 2000 was 'self-contradictory'. It also found the subsequent 2023 decision was also found tainted with prejudice.

Importantly, the Court categorically declared:

"The position of Acharya is a traditional position or can be said to be a responsibility. It cannot be compared with that of an ordinary employee of the Temple".

Thus, the Court concluded that the petitioner is neither an employee of the Trust nor is there any legal bar to his performing the aforesaid duties even after the age of 60 years.

Accordingly, the Court disposed of the petition with the following directions:

1. Dr. Dwivedi will continue to perform, as before, the nightly Bhog Shringar Aarti duly and properly. For this, there shall be no honorarium.

2. Respondents shall ensure that the pooja-archana continues to be performed smoothly and that the petitioner is accorded due respect.

3. If the petitioner so wishes, he may perform the nightly Bhog Shringar Aarti only three days a week [Monday, Wednesday and Thursday] and he shall inform the respondents of his decision within two weeks.

4. During the nightly Bhog Shringar Aarti, the petitioner may keep one assistant, provided that he is well-versed in Karmkand and ritual procedures.

5. Respondents may, if they so wish, designate one day per month and a suitable time so that the petitioner may teach the devotees about rituals (Karmkand). Such teaching shall be held within the temple premises.

6. Dr. Dwivedi may, if he so wishes, at any time voluntarily relinquish the performance of the nightly Bhog Shringar Aarti, his health may be one such reason, but before doing so, he shall inform the Trust.

7. The petitioner, being a senior and experienced person, is expected to maintain simplicity in his conduct and duties.

Before parting, the bench provided that in case of any dispute regarding the above directions, if it cannot be resolved through mutual discussion, either party shall be free to file a review petition before the Court.

Appearances

Petitioner's Counsels - BN Singh, DS Tripathi, HN Singh, P Padia, RGPadia, VD Shukla, VN Singh and Vineet Kumar Singh

Respondent's Counsel - PMN Singh, VD Ojha and Vineet Sankalp