Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice G Arul Murugan held that the money offered and properties donated to temples belong to the deity, making the deity the rightful owner. Temples are not profit-making bodies, the judges noted, and their funds must remain within statutory purposes outlined in various sections of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Act.

by Sekar Reporter · August 30, 2025

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NewsIndiaLaw NewsMoney belongs to deity: Madras High Court says temple funds not for government use
Money belongs to deity: Madras High Court says temple funds not for government use
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court quashed a Tamil Nadu government order allowing temple funds to build marriage halls. The court said temple funds belong to the deity and must serve only religious purposes.
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Madras High Court
Madras High Court says temple funds cannot be used for marriage halls, cancels Tamil Nadu government order.
Anagha
Anagha
UPDATED: Aug 29, 2025 09:48 IST
Written By: Deepthi Rao
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has struck down a government order permitting the construction of marriage halls using temple funds, ruling that such funds cannot be treated as public or government money.

A division bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice G Arul Murugan held that the money offered and properties donated to temples belong to the deity, making the deity the rightful owner. Temples are not profit-making bodies, the judges noted, and their funds must remain within statutory purposes outlined in various sections of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Act.

While the Act empowers the government to oversee Hindu religious institutions, the state must ensure temple funds are used only for religious purposes as intended by devotees or donors. Such contributions, the court said, should go towards temple festivals, maintenance, or development of temples, not non-religious activities.

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“Any attempt by the government to misuse the temple funds by way of expanding the interpretation is unacceptable and would result in infringement of the fundamental right of the Hindus to profess their choice of religion,” the bench observed.

Earlier, HR & CE Minister PK Sekar Babu had announced in the assembly that marriage halls would be built in 27 temples at a cost of Rs 80 crore. Taking note of this, the court quashed the government order, holding that such diversion of temple funds cannot be allowed.