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PETITIONER: ALL INDIA DEMOCRATIC WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION ANDJANWADI SAMITI

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

DATE OF JUDGMENT17/03/1989

BENCH: MISRA RANGNATH BENCH: MISRA RANGNATH VENKATACHALLIAH, M.N. (J)

CITATION:  1989 AIR 1280            1989 SCR  (2)  66  1989 SCC  (2) 411        JT 1989 (1)   548  1989 SCALE  (1)680

ACT:             Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987: Chunri  Cer e-         mony-Whether  glorification  of  Sati--Maintenance  of  Sa ti         temple and support to social institutions of utility out of         income earned pending determination- Permissibility  of.

HEADNOTE:             By  an ex-parte order made in the writ petition  on  9 th         September, 1988, the Court prohibited respondent No. 2,  t he         management of the Sri Rani Satiji’s Mandir, from  performi ng         Chunri  ceremony within the temple and directed  the  enti re         collection  of  money  to be separately  accounted  for  a nd         deposited into a nationalised bank.             In  this miscellaneous petition, the  management  soug ht         vacation of the ad interim order and lot a direction to  t he         authorities not to interfere in the matter of collection of         money as also articles of gold and silver of deities.         Disposing of the miscellaneous petition, the Court,         Ordered:             1. The restraint imposed on holding the Chunri  ceremo ny         within  the  temple should continue without  any  variatio n.         [68G-H]             2.1  Pending disposal of the writ .petition, the  temp le         complex  has to be maintained. Therefore, out of the  inco me         earned maintenance expenses must be met. [69A]             2.2 If out of the income of this institution any contr

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i-         bution was being made to sustain some social institutions of         utility, the support should not die out. [69B-C]             2.3  The respondent No. 2 is free to move  the  Distri ct         Magistrate  in regard to these two aspects and in  case  t he         latter  is  satisfied that appropriate funds should  be  r e-         leased out of the deposits in the bank for         67         one or both of the above said purposes, he would be free to         make an appropriate order in respect thereof. [69C]

JUDGMENT:             ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Civil Misc. Petition No. 28180 of         1988.         IN         Writ Petition No. 9 13 of 1988         (Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India.)         Mrs. K. Hingorani and Ms. Santosh Singh for the Petitioner .             A.K. Sen (Not Present), Dr. L.M. Singhvi, Vivek Gambhi r,         Parveen Kumar and B.D. Sharma for the Respondents.         S.P. Singh for the Impleading party.         The following Order of the Court was delivered:         ORDER             This  Court  on 9.9.1988 after hearing counsel  for  t he         petitioners  in the writ petition made an ex parte order to         the following effect:                  "Issue  notice  returnable  on  Tuesday,  the  13 th         September,  1988. In view of the allegations made  in  Par a-         graph  4  of the affidavit given by Vijay Trivedi,  the  R e-         spondent  No.  2 is prohibited from  performing  any  Chun ri         Ceremony within Sri Rani Satiji’s Mandir and the responden ts         are directed to enforce this order on the th September, 19 88         and  on any other occasion thereafter until further  order s.         The entire collection of money shall be separately account ed         for  and  should be deposited into a nationalised  bank, so         that  appropriate directions after hearing both the  parti es         may be made by this Court in regard to the same  .....  "         On  10th  of  September, 1988, the annual  Satiji  Mela  w as         scheduled to be celebrated within the said temple premises .             The  management of the temple, respondent No. 2, in  t he

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       writ  petition has now applied for vacating the  ad  inter im         order and for a         68         direction  to the District Magistrate, Jhunjhunu  to  retu rn         the  keys  of  the Bhetpatras of the temple  and  the  box es         containing  the articles of gold and silver and also  for  a         direction  to him not to interfere in the matter of  colle c-         tion  of  money as also collection of articles of  gold  a nd         silver of deities located in the premises of the temple  a nd         to  make such other orders as may be necessary to  meet  t he         situation.             We  have heard Dr. Singhvi in support of  the  petitio n,         Mrs.  Hingorani  for the petitioners in  the  writ  petiti on         asking  for sustaining the interim order and Mr. Sharma  f or         the  State of Rajasthan. An affidavit has been filed by  t he         District  Magistrate of Jhunjhunu in the course  of  heari ng         which has also been placed before us.             Broadly  two aspects require consideration: (1)  wheth er         the  ’Chunry’ ceremony should be permitted to  be  perform ed         within  the temple and (2) whether out of the amounts  whi ch         are being deposited in the nationalised bank in terms of t he         interim  order, the expenses for maintenance of  the  temp le         complex,  performance of the daily rites as also  the  usu al         charities should not be made.             Under  the  Commission of Sati (Prevention)  Act,  198 7,         glorification  of Sati is strictly prohibited and  that  a ct         has been declared to be an offence. Dr. Singhvi by referri ng         to different dictionaries has tried to impress upon us  th at         Chunry  as such is not connected with glorification of  Sa ti         and  is  a ceremony connected with the traditional  form of         offering worship known as Sodash Upachar while Mrs. Hingor a-         ni  and Mr. Sharma do not accept the submission made by  D r.         Singhvi  and have maintained that in the State of  Rajasth an         Chunry  ceremony is always associated with  glorifying  Sa ti         and the celebration is a part of the traditional process of

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       religious  offerings in Sati temples. This certainly is  n ot         the  stage in the proceedings for a final view of the  que s-         tion as to whether performance of Chunry ceremony amounts to         glorification of Sati and the determination must be left to         the final stage. We do not think it would be appropriate f or         us  to express any view beyond this point at this  stage as         the same may embarrass the bench which would ultimately he ar         the matter.             We  are, therefore, of the view that the  restraint  i m-         posed  on  holding  the Chunry ceremony  within  the  temp le         should continue without any variation. The contention of D r.         Singhvi that Chunry is a part of Sodash Upachar will have to         be examined at length at the later stage.         69             Now  a  look at the other aspect. There can  be  no  t wo         opinions  that  pending disposal of the writ  petition,  t he         temple  complex has to be maintained and out of  the  inco me         earned  maintenance  expense  must be  met.  The  submissi on         advanced  by Mrs. Hingorani that the temple should  be  co n-         verted  forthwith into rehabilitation camps for uncared  f or         ladies is certainly not one requiring any serious consider a-         tion.  There is no provision in the statute or in any  oth er         law which would warrant such change of user of the premise s.             Similarly  if out of the income of this institution  a ny         contribution was being made to sustain some social  instit u-         tions  of utility, the support should not die out.  The  r e-         spondent  No. 2 is free to move the District  Magistrate of         Jhunjhunu  in  regard to these two aspects and in  case  t he         District  Magistrate  is satisfied  that  appropriate  fun ds         should  be released out of the deposits in the bank for  o ne         or both of the purposes indicated above he would be free to         direct such money as may be found necessary to be  withdra wn         from the bank for being utilised for the purposes as may be         specified by the District Magistrate m his order to be mad e.

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       This disposes of the Civil Miscellaneous Petition.         P.S.S.         70