In Order To Claim Post Of Hereditary Archak, Line Of Succession Must Be On Paternal Side Instead Of Maternal: Karnataka HC
The Karnataka High Court has held that in order to claim the post of hereditary archak, the line of succession must be on the paternal side instead of the maternal side.
A Single Bench of Justice N.S. Sanjay Gowda observed, “In the light of the fact that the petitioners are claiming the right of archakship by virtue of their maternal grandfather being the archak, it is obvious that they cannot claim that archakship was hereditary. In order to claim the post of hereditary archak, the line of succession should be on the paternal side and not on the maternal side.”
The Bench said that only the father of the petitioners had been performing pooja in the temple and before him, it was his father-in-law i.e., the maternal grandfather of the petitioners who was performing the pooja.
Advocate Y.K. Narayana Sharma represented the petitioners while AGA D.S. Shivananda, Senior Advocate Pramila Nesaragi, and Advocate Hemanth Kumar D. represented the respondents.
In this case, the petitioners were the sons of an archak of a temple at Bangalore who submitted their representations stating that they were entitled to be appointed as archaks since the archakship of the temple was hereditary. The High Court had previously directed the concerned authorities to dispose of the representation of the second petitioner in accordance with the law.
It was also observed by the Court that any other person who may be interested in the archakship would also be heard in such a matter. Pursuant to the said order, an order was passed stating that there was no document indicating that for the previous three generations of the petitioners, their ancestors had been discharging the functions of archakship and therefore, their request to be appointed as archaks could not be acceded to.
The High Court in the above context noted, “… even the grandfather of the petitioners states that his son-in-law – M.N.Subramanya Dixit was performing the pooja along with him and he should be permitted to continue as archak. … Since the petitioners admit that it was their maternal grandfather who was performing the pooja, obviously they cannot claim that archakship was hereditary.”
Accordingly, the Court dismissed the pleas.
Cause Title- M.S. Ravi Dixit & Anr. v. The State of Karnataka & Ors.
