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TMI Blog1954 (4) TMI 29X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . N. Subramania Iyer, Advocate-General of Travancore- Cochin (T. R. Balakrishna Iyer and Sardar Bahadur with him) for the Intervener (State of Travancor, Cochin). JUDGMENT : The Judgment of the Court was delivered by MUKHERJIA J.- This appeal is directed against a judgment of a Division Bench of the Madras High Court, dated the 13th of December, 1951, by which the learned Judges allowed petition, presented by the respondent under article 226 of the Constitution, and directed a writ of prohibition to issue in his favour prohibiting the appellant from proceeding with the settlement of a scheme in connection with a Math, known as the Shirur Math, of which the petitioner happens to be the head or superior. It may be stated at the outset that the petition was filed at a time when the Madras Hindu Religion Endowments Act (Act II of 1927), was in force and the writ was prayed for against the Hindu Religious Endowments Board constituted under that Act, which -was the predecessor in authority of the present appellant and had initiated proceedings for settlement of a scheme against the petitioner under section 61 of the said Act. The petition was directed to be heard along ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sage imposes a duty upon the Mathadhipati to feed every Brahmin that comes to the place at that time. The petitioner was installed as Mathadhipati in the year 1919, when he was still a minor, and he assumed management after coming of age some time in 1926. At that time the Math was heavily in debt. Between 1926 and 1930 the Swami succeeded in clearing off a large portion of the debt. In 1931, however, came the turn of his taking over management of the Shri Krishna Math and he had had to incur debts to meet the heavy expenditure attendant on the Pariyayam ceremonies, The financial position improved to some extent during the years that followed, but troubles again arose in 1946, which was the year of the second Pariyayam of the Swami. Owing to scarcity and the high prices of commodities at that time, the Swami had to borrow money to meet the expenditure and the debts mounted up to nearly a lakh of rupees. The Hindu Religious Endowments Board, functioning under the Earlier Act of 1927, intervened at this stage and in exercise of its powers under section 61 -A of the Act called upon the Swami to appoint a competent manager to manage the affairs of the institution. The petitioners ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... arlier Act and issued a notice upon the Swami on the 6th of November, 1950, stating that it had reason to believe that the endowments of the said Math were being mismanaged and that a scheme should be framed for the administration of its affairs. The notice was served by affixture on the Swami and the 8th of December, 1950, was fixed as the date of enquiry. On that date at the request of the counsel for the Swami, it was adjourned to the 21st of December, following. On the 8th of December, 1950, an application was filed on behalf of the Swami praying to the Board to issue a direction to the agent to hand over the account papers and other documents, without which it was not possible for him to file his objections As the lawyer appearing for the Swami was unwell, the matter was again adjourned till the 10th of January, 1951. The Swami was not ready with his objections even on that date as his lawyer had not recovered from his illness and a telegram was sent to the Board on the previous day requesting the latter to grant a further adjournment. The Board did not accede to this request and as no explanation was filed by the Swami, the enquiry was closed and orders reserved upon it. On t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ges pronounced quite a number of sections of the New Act to be ultra vires the Constitution by reason of their being in conflict with the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed under articles 19(1)(f), 25, 26 and 27 of the Constitution. In the result, the rule nisi issued on the petition was made absolute and the Commissioner, Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras, was prohibited from proceeding further with the framing of a scheme in regard to the petitioner's Math. The Commissioner has now come up on appeal before us on the strength of a certificate granted by the High Court under article 132(1) of the Constitution. The learned Advocate-General for Madras, who appeared in support of the appeal, confined his arguments exclusively to the constitutional points involved in this case. Although he had put in an application to. urge grounds other than the constitutional grounds, that application was not pressed and he did not challen the findings of fact upon which the High Court based its decision on the merits of the petition. The position, therefore, is that the order of the High Court issuing the writ of prohibition against the appellant must stand irrespective of the decision ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... each area is placed in charge of a Deputy Commissioner, to whom the powers of the Commissioner can be delegated. The State has also to be divided into a number of divisions and an Assistant Commissioner is to be placed in charge of each division. Below the Assistant Commissioner, there will be an Area Committee in charge of all the temples situated within a division or part of a division. Under section 18, the Commissioner is empowered to examine the records of any Deputy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, or Area Committee, or of any trustee not being the trustee of a, Math, in respect of any proceeding under the Act, to satisfy himself as to the regularity, correctness, or propriety of any decision or order. Chapter III contains the general provisions relating to all religious institutions. Under section 20, the administration of religious endowments is placed under the general superintendence and control of the Commissioner and he is empowered to pass any orders which may be deemed necessary to ensure that such endowments are properly administered and their income is -duly appropriated for the purposes for which they were founded or exist. Section 21 gives the Commissioner, t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to the various objects connected with the institution. The proposals are to be published and after receiving suggestions, if any, from persons interested in the instution, they would be scrutinised by the Commissioner. If the Commissioner thinks that a modification is necessary, he shall submit the case to the Government and the orders of the Government would be final. Section 55 empowers the trustee to spend at his discretion and for purposes connected with the Math the "Pathakanikas or gifts made to him personally, but he is required to keep regular accounts of the receipts and expenditure of such personal gifts. Under section 56, the Commissioner is empowered to call upon the trustee to appoint a manager for the administration of the secular affairs of the institution and in default of such appointment, the Commissioner may make the appointment himself. Under section 58, a Deputy Commissioner is competent to frame a scheme for any religious institutions if he has reason to believe that in the interests of the proper administration of the trust any such scheme is necessary. Sub-section (3) of this section provides that a scheme settled for a Math may contain inter alia a provis ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and representative of a religious institution, has a right guaranteed to him under article 25 of the Constitution to practise and propagate freely the religion of which he and his followers profess to be adherents. This right, in the opinion of the High Court, has been affected by some of the provisions of the Act. The High Court has held further that the Math in question is really an institution belonging to Sivalli Brahmins, who are a section of the followers of Madhwacharya and hence constitutes a religious denomination within the meaning of article 26 of the Constitution. This religious denomination has a fundamental right under article 26 to manage its own affairs in matters of religion through the Mathadhipati who is their spiritual head and superior, and those provisions of the Act, which substantially take away the rights of the Mathadhipati in this respect, amount to violation of the fundamental right guaranteed under article 26. Lastly, the High Court has held that the provision for compulsory contribution made in section 76 of the Act comes within the mischief of article 27 of the Constitution. This last point raises a wide issue and. We propose to discuss it separately ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mi, 48 I. A. 302, says, a manager or custodian, of the institution who has to discharge the duties of a trustee and is answerable as such; but he is not a mere manager and it would not be right to describe Mahantship as a mere office." A superior of a Math has not only duties to discharge in connection with the endowment but he has a personal interest of a beneficial character which is sanctioned by custom and is much larger than that of a Shebait in the debutter property. It was held by a Full Bench of the Calcutta High Court Vide Monahai v. Bhupendra, 60 Cal. 452., that Shebaitship. itself is property, and this decision was approved of by the Judicial Committee in Ganesh v Lal Behary 63 I.A. 448., and again in Bhabatarini v. Ashalata 70 I.A. 57. The effect of the first two decisions, as the Privy Council pointed out in the last case, was to emphasise the proprietary element in the Shebaiti right and to show that though in some respects an anomaly, it was an anomaly to be accepted as having been admitted into Hindu, law from an early date. This view was adopted in its entirety by this court in Angurbala v. Debabrata [1951] S.C.R. 1125., and what was said in that case in resp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d try to strengthen the doctrines of the particular school or order, of which they profess to be adherents. This purpose cannot be served if the restrictions are such as would bring the Mathadhipati down to the level of a servant under a State department. It is from this standpoint that the reasonableness of the restrictions should be judged. A point was suggested by the learned Attorney General that as article 19(1) (f) deals only with the natural rights inherent in a citizen to acquire, hold and dispose of property in the abstract without reference to rights to any particular property, it can be of no real assistance to the respondent in the present case and article 3l of the Constitution, which deals with deprivation of property, has no application here. In the case of The State of West Bengal v. Subodh Gopal Bose (II) (Civil Appeal No. 107 of 1952, decided by this court on the 17th December, 1953), an opinion was expressed by Patanjali Sastri C. J. that article 19(1) (f) of the Constitution is concerned only with the abstract right and capacity to acquire, hold and dispose of property and that it has no relation to concrete property rights. This, it may be noted, was an expre ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... propagation of belief that is protected, no matter whether the propagation takes place in a church or monastery, or in a temple or parlour meeting. As regards article 26, the first question is, what is the precise meaning or connotation of the expression "religious denomination" and whether a Math could come within this expression. The word "denomination" has been defined in the Oxford Dictionary to mean 'Ca collection of individuals classed together under the same name: a religious sect or body having a common faith and Organisation and designated by a distinctive name. It is well known that the practice of setting up Maths as centres of the logical teaching was started by Shri Sankaracharya and was followed by various teachers since then. After Sankara, came a galaxy of religious teachers and philosophers who founded the different sects and sub-sects of the Hindu religion that we find in India at the present day. Each one of such sects or sub-sects can certainly be balled a religious denomination, as it is designated by a distinctive name,-in many cases it is the name of the founder,-and has a common faith and common spiritual organization. The followers of Ramanuja, who are kno ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hey impose of reverence for His Being and character and of obedience to His will. It is often confounded with cultus of form or worship of a particular sect, but is distinguishable from the latter." We do not think that the above definition can be regarded as either precise or adequate. Articles 25 and 26 of our Constitution are based for the most part upon article 44(2) of the Constitution of Eire and we have great doubt whether a definition of "religion" as given above could have been in the minds of our Constitution-makers when they framed the Constitution. Religion is certainly a matter of faith with individuals or communities and it is not necessarily theistic. There are well known religions in India like Buddhism and Jainism which do not believe in God or in any Intelligent First Cause. A religion undoubtedly has its basis in a system of beliefs or doctrines which are regarded by those who profess that religion as conducive to their spiritual well-being, but it would not be correct to say that religion is nothing else, but a doctrine or belief. A religion may not only lay down a code of ethical rules for its followers to accept, it might prescribe rituals and observances, c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... The contention formulated in such broad terms cannot, we think, be supported. In the first place, what constitutes the essential part of a religion is primarily to be ascertained with reference to the doctrines of that religion itself. If the tenets of any religious sect of the Hindus prescribe that offerings of food should be given to the idol at particular hours of the day, that periodical ceremonies should be performed in a certain way at certain periods of the year or that there should be daily recital of sacred texts or ablations to the sacred fire, all these would be regarded as parts of religion and the mere fact that they involve expenditure of money or employment of priests and servants or the use of marketable commodities would not make them secular activities partaking of a commercial or economic character; all of them are religious. practices and should be regarded as matters of religion within the meaning of article 26(b). What article 25(2)(a) contemplates is not regulation by the State of religious practices as such, the freedom of which is guaranteed by the Constitution except when they run counter to public order, health and morality, but regulation of activities ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... se two small children, Lillian and William Gobitis, were expelled from the public school of Minersville, Pennsylvania, for refusing to salute the national flag as part of the daily exercise. The Gobitis family were affiliated with "Jehova's Witnesses" and had been Vide Adelaide Company v. The Commonwealth, 67 C.L.R., 116, 127. Brought up conscientiously to believe that such a gesture of respect for the flag was forbidden by the scripture. The point for decision by the Supreme Court was whether the requirement of participation in such a ceremony exacted from a child, who refused upon sincere religious ground, infringed the liberty of religion guaranteed by the First and the Fourteenth Amendments ? The court held by a majority that it did not and that it was within the province of the legislature and the school authorities to adopt appropriate means to evoke and foster a sentiment of. National unity amongst the children in public schools. The Supreme Court, however, changed their views on this identical point in the later case of West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette 319 U.S. 624. There it was held overruling the earlier decision referred to above that the action of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a difficult task and that is why we find difference of judicial opinion to such an extent in cases decided by the American courts where questions of religious freedom were involved. Our Constitution-makers, however, have embodied the limitations which have been evolved by judicial pronouncements in America or Australia in the Constitution itself and the language of articles 25 and 26 is sufficiently clear to enable us to determine without the aid of foreign authorities as to what matters come within the purview of religion and what do not. As we have already indicated, freedom of religion in our Constitution is not confined to religious beliefs only; it extends to religious practices as well subject to the restrictions which the Constitution itself has laid down. Under article 26(b), therefore, a religious denomination .or organization enjoys complete autonomy in the matter of deciding as to what rites and ceremonies are essential according to the tenets of the religion they hold and no outside authority has any jurisdiction to interfere with their decision in such matters. Of course, the scale of expenses to be incurred in connection with these religious observances would be a mat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... were not, right in including sections 18, 39(2) and 42 in this list, as these sections are not applicable to Maths under the Act itself This position has not been disputed by Mr. Somayya, who appears for the respondent. Section 20 of the Act describes the powers of the Commissioner in respect to religious endowments and they include power to pass any orders that may be deemed necessary to ensure that such endowments are properly administered and that their income is duly appropriated for the purposes for which they were founded. Having regard to the fact that the Mathadhipati occupies the position of a trustee with regard to the Math, which is a public institution, some amount of control or supervision over the due administration of the endowments and due appropriation of their funds is certainly necessary in the interest of the public and we do not think that the provision of this section by itself offends any fundamental right of the Mahant. We do not agree with the High Court that the result of this provision would be to reduce the Mahant to the position of a servant. No doubt the Commissioner is invested, with powers to pass orders, but orders can be passed only for the purpos ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... does not indicate by whom and in what manner the question of interference with the, religious and spiritual functions of the Math would be decided in case of any dispute arising regarding it. In our opinion, section 21 has been rightly held to be invalid. Section 23 imposes a duty upon the trustees to obey all lawful orders issued be the Commissioner or any subordinate authority under the, provisions of the Act. No exception can be taken to the section if those provisions of the Act, which offend against the fundamental rights of the respondent, are left out of account as being invalid. Nobody can make a grievance if he .is directed to obey orders issued in pursuance of valid legal authority. The same reason would, in our opinion, apply to section 24. It may be mentioned here that sections 23 and 24 have not been specifically mentioned in the concluding portion of the judgment of the High Court set out above, though they have been attacked by the learned Judges in course of their discussion. As regards section 25, the High Court has taken exception only to clause (4) of the section. If the preparation of registers for religious institutions is not wrong and does not affect the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itution there seems to be no reason why the authority vested in the Mahant to spend the surplus income for such purposes should be taken away from-him and he should be compelled to act in such matters under the instructions of the Government officers. We think that this is an unreasonable restriction on the Mahant's right of property which is blended with his office. The same reason applies in our opnion to section 31 of the Act, the meaning of -which also is far from clear. If after making adequate provision for the purposes referred, to in section 70(2) and for, the arrangements mentioned in section 30(2) there is still a surplus left with the trustee, section 31 enables him to spend it for the purposes specified in section 59(1) with the previous sanction of the Deputy Commissioner. One of the purposes mentioned in section 59(1) is the propagation of the religious tenents of the institution, and it, is not understood why sanction of the Deputy Commissioner should be necessary for spending the surplus, income for the propagation of the religious tenets of the order which is one of the primary duties of a Mahant to discharge. The next thing that strikes one is, whether sanctio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... onal gifts are regarded as gifts to the institution itself and the Mahant receives them only as the representative of the institution; but the general rule is otherwise. As section 55(1) does not say that this rule will apply only when there is a custom of that nature in a particular institution, we must say that the provision in this unrestricted form is an unreasonable encroachment upon the, fundamental right of the Mahant. The same objection can be raised against clause (2) of the section; for if the Pathakanikas constitute the property of a Mahant, there is no justification for compelling him to keep accounts of the receipts and expenditure of such personal gifts. As said already, if the Mahant dies without disposing of these personal gifts, they may form part of the assets of the Math, but that is no reason for -restricting the powers of the Mahant over these gifts so long as he is alive. Section 56 has been rightly invalidated by the High Court., It makes provision of an extremely drastic ,character. Power has been given to the Commissioner to require the trustee to appoint a manager for administration of the secular affairs of the institution and in case of default, the Co ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... vides a scheme for the application of the cypres doctrine in case the object of the trust fails either from the inception or by reason of subsequent eve*. Here again the only complaint that is raised is, that such order could be made by the Deputy Commissioner. -We think that this objection has not much substance. In the first place, the various objects on, which the trust funds could be spent are laid down in the section itself and the jurisdiction of the Deputy Commissioner is only to make a choice out of the several heads-. Further an appeal has been provided from an order of the Deputy Commissioner under this section to the Commissioner. We, therefore, cannot agree with the High Court that sections 58 and 59 of the Act are invalid. Chapter VI of the Act, which contains sections 63 to 69, relates to notification of religious institutions The provisions are extremely drastic in, their character and the worst feature of it is that no access is allowed to the court to set aside an order of notification. The Advocate- General for Madras frankly stated that he could not support the legality of these provisions. We hold therefore, in agreement with High Court that these sections ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ner, Deputy Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners and other officers and servants (other than executive officers of religious institutions) employed for the purposes of this Act and the other expenses incurred for such purposes, including the expenses of Area Committees and the cost of auditing the accounts of religious institutions." Thus the section authorises the levy of an annual contribution on all religious institutions, the maximum of which is fixed at 5 per cent. of the income derived by them. The -Government is to frame rules for the purposes of fixing rates within the permissible maximums and the section expressly states that the levy is in respect of the I services rendered by the Government and its officers. The validity of the provision has been attacked on a two-fold ground: the first is, that the contribution is really a tax and as such it was beyond the legislative competence of the State Legislature to enact such provision. The other is, that the contribution being a tax or imposition, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated for the maintenance of a particular religion or religious denomination, it comes within the mischief of article 27 of the Con ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of article 366 which defines taxation as including the imposition of any tax or impost, whether general, local or special. It seems to us that though levying of fees is only a particular form of the exercise of the taxing power of the State, our Constitution has placed fees uder a separate category for purposes of legislation and at the end of each one of the three legislative lists, it has given a power to the particular legislature to legislate on the imposition of fees in respect to every one of the items dealt with in the list itself. Some idea as to what fees are may be gathered from clause (2) of articles 110 and 119 referred to above which speak of fees for licences and for services rendered. The question for our consideration really is, what are the indicia or special characteristics that distinguish a fee from a tax proper ? On this point we have been referred to several authorities by the learned counsel appearing for the different parties including opinions expressed by writers of recognised treatises on public finance. A neat definition of what "tax" means has been given by Latham C. J. of the High Court of Australia,in Matthews v. Chicory Marketing Board 60 C.L.R. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a licence that is entirely his own choice and then only he has to pay the fees, but not otherwise. We think that a careful examination will reveal that the element of compulsion or coerciveness is present in all kinds of imposition. though in different degrees and that it is not totally absent in fees. This, therefore, cannot be made the sole or even a material criterion for distinguishing a tax from fees. It is difficult, we think, to conceive of a tax except it be something like a poll tax, the incidence of which falls on all persons within a State. The house tax has to be paid only by those who own houses, the land tax by those who possess lands, municipal taxes or rates will fall on those who have properties within a municipality. Persons who do not have houses, land or Properties within municipalities, would not have to pay these taxes, but nevertheless these impositions come within the category of taxes and nobody can say that it is a choice of these people to own lands or houses or specified kinds of properties so that there is no compulsion on them to pay taxes at all. Compulsion lies in the fact that payment is enforceable by law against a man in spite of his unwillingn ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Taxation, p. 409, and if the money paid by licence holders goes for the upkeep of roads and other matters of general public utility, the licence fee cannot but be regarded as a tax. In the other class of cases,- the Government does some positive work for the benefit of persons and the money is taken as the return for the work done or services rendered. If the money thus paid is set apart and appropriated specifically for the performance of such work and is not merged in the public revenues for the benefit of the general public,, it could be counted as fees and not a tax. There is really no generic difference between the tax and fees and as said by Seligman, the taxing power of a State may manifest itself in three different forms known respectively as special assessments, fees and taxes lbid, P. 406,. Our Constitution has, for legislative purposes, made a distinction between a tax and a fee and while there are various entries in the legislative lists with regard to various forms of taxes there is an entry at the end of each one of the three lists as regards fees which could be levied in respect of any of the matters that is included in it. The implication seems to be that fees have ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lding that the contribution levied under section 76 is a tax and not a fee and consequently it was beyond the power of the State Legislature to enact this provision. In view of our decision on this point, the other ground hardly requires consideration. We will indicate, however, very briefly our opinion on the second point raised. The first contention, which has been raised by Mr. Nambiar in reference to article 27 of the Constitution is that the word "taxes", as used therein, is not confined to taxes proper but is inclusive of all other impositions like cesses, fees, etc. We do not think it necessary to decide this point in the present case, for in our opinion on the facts of the present case, the imposition, although it is a tax, does not come within the purview of the latter part of the article at all. What is forbidden by the article is the specific appropriation of the proceeds of any tax in payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious denomination. The reason underlying this provision is obvious. Ours being a secular State and there being freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution, both to individuals and to groups ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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