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The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Gajendragadkar, C.J. The principal question which arises in this appeal is whether the Bombay High Court was right in holding that the Swaminarayan Sampradaya (sect) to which the appellants belong, is not a religion distinct and separate from the Hindu religion, and that the temples belonging to the said sect do come within the ambit of the provisions of the Bombay Hindu Places of Public Worship (Entry- Authorisation) Act, 1956 (No. 31 of 1956) (hereinafter called 'the Act'). The suit from which the present appeal arises was instituted by the appellants on the 12th January, 1948, in the Court of the Joint Civil Judge, Senior Division, Ahmedabad. Before the suit was instituted, the Bombay Harijan Temple Entry Act, 1947 (No. 35 of 1947) (Hereinafter called 'the former Act') had come into force on the 23rd November, 1947. The appellants are the followers of the Swaminarayan sect, and are known as Satsangis. They have filed the present suit on behalf of themselves and on behalf of the Satsangis of the Northern Diocese of the sect at Ahmedabad. They apprehended that respondent No. 1, Muldas Bhudardas Vaishya, who is the President of the Maha Gujarat Dalit Sangh at Ahmedabad, intended to assert the rights of the non-Satsangi Harijans to enter the temples of the Swaminarayan sect situated in the Northern Diocese at Ahmedabad in exercise of the legal rights conferred on them by s. 3 of the former Act of 1947. Section 3 of the said Act had provided, inter alia, that every temple to which the Act applied shall be open to Harijans for worship in the same manner and to the same extent as other Hindus in general. To this suit the appellants had impleaded five other respondents, amongst whom was included the Province of Bombay as respondent No. 4, under the order of the Court at a later stage of the proceedings on the 18th July, 1949. In their plaint, the appellants had alleged that the Swaminarayan temple of Sree Nar Narayan Dev of Ahmedabad and all the temples subordinate thereto are not temples within the meaning of the former Act. Their case, was that the Swaminarayan sect represents a distinct and separate religious sect unconnected with the Hindus and Hindu religion, and as such, their temples were outside the purview of the said Act. On the basis of this main allegation, the appellants claimed a declaration to the effect that the relevant provisions of the said Act did not apply to their temples. In the alternative, it was urged that the said Act was ultra vires. As a consequence of these two declarations, the appellants asked for an injunction restraining respondent No. 1 and other non- Satsangi Harijans from entering the Swaminarayan temple of the Northern Diocese of the Swaminarayan sect; and they prayed that an appropriate injunction should be issued directing respondents 2 and 3 who are the Mahants of the said temples to take steps to prevent respondent No. 1 and the other non-Satsangi Harijans from entering and worshipping in the said temples.

This suit was resisted by respondent No. 1. It was urged on his behalf that the suit was not tenable at law, on the ground that the Court had no jurisdiction to entertain the suit under s. 5 of the former Act. Respondent No. 1 disputed the appellants' right to represent the Satsangis of the Swaminarayan sect, and he averred. that many Satsangis were in favour of the Harijans' entry into the Swaminarayan temples, even though such Harijans were not the followers of the Swaminarayan sect. According to him, the suit temples were temples within the meaning of the former Act as amended and that non-Satsangi Harijans had a legal right of entry and worship in the said temples. The appellants' case that the former Act was ultra vires, was also challenged by respondent No. 1. Respondents 2 and 3, the Mahants of the temples, filed purshis that they did not object to the appellants' claim, while respondent No. 4, the State of Bombay, and respondents 5 and 6 filed no written statements. On these pleadings, the learned trial Judge framed several issues, and parties led voluminous documentary and oral evidence in support of their respective contentions. After considering this evidence, the learned trial Judge held that the suit was maintainable and was not barred under s. 5 of the former Act. He found that the former Act was intra vires the legislative powers of the Bombay State and did not infringe any fundamental rights of the appellants. According to him, the Swaminarayan sect was not distinct and different from Hindu religion and as such, the suit temples were temples which were used as places of religious worship by the congregation of the Satsang which formed a section of the Hindu community. The learned trial Judge, however, came to the conclusion that it had not been established that the suit temples were used by non-Satsangi Hindus as places of religious worship by custom, usage or otherwise, and consequently, they did not come within the meaning of the word "temple" as defined by the former Act. Thus, the conclusion of the learned trial Judge on this part of the appellants' case decided the fate of the suit in their favour, though findings were recorded by the trial Judge in favour of respondent No. 1 on the other issues. In the result, the trial court passed a decree in favour of the appellants giving them declarations and injunctions as claimed by them. This judgment was pronounced on the 24th September, 1951.

"Temple, means a place by whatever name known and to whomsoever belonging, which is used as a place 2 5 5 of religious worship by custom, usage or otherwise by the members of the Hindu community or any section thereof and includes all land appurtenant thereto and subsidiary shrines attached to any such place."

It will be recalled that after this amended definition was introduced in the former Act, the appellants asked for and obtained permission to amend their plaint, and it is the claim made in the amended plaint by relation to the new definition of the word "temple" that parties led evidence before the trial court. This act shows that the Bombay Legislature took the next step in 1947 and made a positive contribution to the satisfactory solution of the problem of untouchability. It conferred on the Harijans a right to enter temples to which the Act applied and to offer worship in them; and we have already seen that worship includes attendance at the temple for the purpose of darshan of a deity or deities in the precincts thereof.

Besides, on the merits, we do not think that by enacting s. 3, the Bombay Legislature intended to invade the traditional and conventional manner in which the act of actual worship of the -deity is allowed to be performed only by the authorised Poojaris of the temple and by no other devotee entering the temple for darshan. In many Hindu temples, the act of actual worship is entrusted to the authorised Poojaris and all the devotees are allowed to enter the temple up to a limit beyond which entry is barred :to them, the innermost portion of the temple being reserved only for the authorised Poojaris of the temple. If that is so, then all that s. 3 purports to do is to give the Harijans the same right to enter the temple for 'darshan' of the deity as can be claimed by the other Hindus. It would be noticed that the right to enter the temple, to worship in the temple, to pray in it or to perform any religious service therein which has been conferred by s. 3, is specifically qualified by the clause that the said right will be enjoyed in the like manner and to the like extent as any other Hindu of whatsoever section or class may do. The main object of the section is to establish complete social equality between all sections of the Hindus in the matter of worship specified by s. 3; and so, the apprehension on which Mr. Desai's argument is based must be held to be misconceived. We are, therefore, satisfied that there is no substance in the contention that s. 3 of the Act is ultra vires.