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After the enactment of the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act, 1926 (Madras Act II of 1927),hereinafter referred to as `the 1927 Act, Turanga Rao, father of the appellant, submitted an application (O.A.No. 117 of 1934) under Section 18 and 84 of the said Act wherein it was claimed that the suit temple is a private temple and the applicant was the hereditary trustee of the same. One M. Satyanarayana Murthy of peddapuram also filed a petition before the Board alleging that the suit temple is a public temple and that he may be appointed as the trustee. The Said application of Turanga Rao was dismissed by the Board of Commissioners Constituted under the 1927 Act by order dated March 30,1935, And it was held that the suit temple ia a public Temple in terms of section 9(12) of the said Act and that the Act was applicable to it and to its endowments. Turanga Rao filed a petition (O.P.No. 15 of 1936) in the Court of District Judge of East Godavari for setting aside the order of the Board dated March 30, 1935 and to declare him as the hereditary trustee of the suit temple. In the said proceedings Turanga Rao filed a petition (Exhibit. A-7) dated April 2, 1936 seeking to withdraw O.P.No. 15 of 1936 on the ground that the post of trustee for the suit temple was now vacant and the Board was proposing to appoint him as the trustee. In view of the said application of Turanga Rao, the District Judge Passed an order (Ex. A-8) dated April 2, 1936 whereby O.P. No. 15 of 1936 was dismissed. It appears that thereafter, in 1936, Turanga Rao was appointed as a trustee of the temple for a period of five years. The said appointment of Turanga Rao as a trustee was not renewed on the expiry of the period of five years but he continued to be in possession of the suit temple and the properties attached to it till his death in 1946. After the death of Turanga Rao, the appellant came in possession of the same. Madras Act II of 1927 was replaced by Madras Religious and Charitable Endowments Act of 1951 (Madras Act 19 of 1951). On the creation of the state of Andhra Pradesh the said Act in its application to the State of Andhra Pradesh, was styled as Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Hindu Religious And Endowments Act, 1951, hereinafter referred to as `the 1951 Act'. The said Act was replaced by the Andhra pradesh Chartiable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1966 (Andhra Pradesh Act 17 of 1966), hereinafter referred to as `the 1966 Act', which came into force on January 26, 1957.

The appellant moved an application (O.A.No. 19 of 1967) under section 57 of the 1951 Act, Corresponding to section 77 of the 1966 Act, whereby he pleaded that the nature and character of the suit temple be determined as a private temple and the appellant be declared as its hereditary trustee, Manager-cum-Archaka. The said application of the appellant was dismissed by the Deputy Commissioner, Endowments Department, Kakinada by order (Ex. A-10) dated August 30, 1969 where by it was held that the appellant had not been able to establish his exclusive right over the suit temple nor had he been able to extract proof that the temple is a private one and that there was no evidence that the trusteeship of the temple is hereditary one. Thereupon, the appellant filed a suit (O.S.No 21 of 1970) in the Court of District Judge, East Godavari District to delcare the suit temple as a private temple and its trusteeship managership- cum-Archkaship is hereditary after setting aside the order dated August 30, 1969 passed by the Deputy Commissioner Endowments Department, Kakinada. Another suit, which was originally numbered as O.S.No. 41 of 1968, was filed by the Executive Officer of the suit temple for recovery of possession of the scheduled lands and ejecting the appellant therefrom and for directing the appellant to render the true and proper account of the net proceeds realised by him from the suit lands during the period of six years prior to the suit and for recovery of the said proceeds. The said suit was originally filed in the Subordinate Court, Kakinada but it was withdrawn to the Court of District Judge, East Godavari District to be tried along with O.S.No 21 of 1970 and on such withdrawal, it was tried as O.S.No. 108 of 1970 of the Court of District Judge, East Godavari District.

chaka since installation till 1862 and thereafter Jammi Mukhya Pranacharyulu Caru held it from 1962-73, Jammi Pedda Hanumantha Rao Garu from 1873-1917, Shrimati Jammi Munemma, widow of Mukhyaprancharyulu, discharged the function from 1917-1934, Jammi Turanga Rao, the appellant's father, from 1934-1946 and that from 1946 onwards the appellant is discharging those functions. It was claimed that the suit temple is purely a private temple and the public as such have no legal right to access to the suit temple. As regards the proceedings which took place in 1935-36, the case of the appellant was that Jammi Turanga Rao did not care to place all the material showing the nature and character of the temple and hence the Board, by its order dated March 30, 1935, held that the suit temple was a public temple and further that although Jammi Turanga Rao had questioned the correctness of the order passed by the Board by preferring O.P.No. 15 of 1936, he did not properly prosecute that matter and he jeopardised the interest of the suit temple as also of the hereditary trustees by bartering away all rights in a compromise whereunder he withdrew the said petition on condition of the Board appointing him as a trustee and that in doing so, Turanga Rao acted in cross dereliction of his duties as a hereditary trustee of private temple since he had no authority to compromise and barter away valuable rights of the temple and the trust and that the said acts of Turanga Rao cannot in any manner bind his successor trustees and the trust and that the order passed by the District Judge dismissing O.P.No 15 of 1936 is not valid. The said suit was contested by the defendant- respondents who denied the allegation that the suit temple was built and idol was installed by the Jammi family and the suit temple was constructed on the land of the appellant for their exclusive worship and was claimed that the suit temple area founded by the public for the benefit of all Hindus. It was claimed that the suit temple is not a private temple but a public temple right from its inception and that the trusteeship, management-cum archakavatam did not vest solely in the Jammi family and it did not devolve on the members of the Jammi family either by primogeniture or by testamentary appointment, in the absence of descendants in any one branch, on the members of the Jammi family. It was denied that the office of the trustee, manager-cum-Archaka of the suit temple was held by persons mentioned in the plaint, several persons not belonging of Jammi family acted as trustees and further that even if some of the member of the Jammi family assumed management of the suit temple, it does not clothe the appellant with trusteeship much less hereditary trusteeship. It was also asserted that public have full access, right from its inception, to the suit temple and all the Hindus have been worshipping the deity in the suit temple. It was also stated that in spite of the efforts of the father of the appellant to secure an order in his favour by placing all the material, he could not succeed in showing that the suit temple is his family's private temple and that he was not guilty of negligence in prosecuting the proceedings before the board as well as the Original Petition before in District Judge, but since the material was against his contention, the appellant's father had withdrawn the Original petition in the court of District Judge and that the decisions in the proceedings initiated by the appellant's father were binding on the appellant and the appellant was not entitled to lay claim once again for the relief asked for in the suit.

While considering the question whether the suit temple is a public temple or a private temple, it cannot be ignored that the suit temple falls in the areas which was formerly part of Madras Presidency. In the greater part of the Madras Presidency, where private temples are practically unknown, the presumption is that temples and their endowments form public religious trusts. Exception is that temples and their endowments form public religious trusts. Exception is made in respect of Malabar, where the large tarwads often established private temples for their own use and there is no presumption one way or the other. Mundancheri Koman v. Achutan Nair & Ors,. 61 I.A. 405 at p.408. In T.V. Mahalinga Iyer v. The State of Madras & Anr., AIR 1980 SC 2036, It has been observed that so far Tamil Nadu is concerned there is initial presumption that a temple is a public one, it being up to the party who claims that it is a private temple, to establish that fact affirmatively and this initial presumption must be rebutted by clinching testimony and the crucial question is as to whether the public worship in the temple as of right. In the instant case, we find that the said presumption, instead of being rebutted by the appellant, is reinforced by the entries in the Inam Registers as well as by the oral evidence of DWs 1 to 4 with regard to public having free access to the suit temple for the purpose of worshipping the deity.