State Cannot Accept Temple Land as Gift, Rules Supreme Court in K. Ramalingam v. Government of Tamil Nadu
Case: K. Ramalingam and Others v. Government of Tamil Nadu rep. by its Secretary and Others
Citation: 2026 INSC 1144
Date of Judgment: 16 October 2026
Court: Supreme Court of India
Coram: Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe (judgment authored by Justice Alok Aradhe)
Proceedings: Civil Appeals of 2026 @ SLP (C) Nos. 20051-20052 of 2019
Court Observation
“The State, as custodian, cannot unilaterally usurp, nor permit any of its officers to usurp, the property of the religious/charitable institutions it is charged to protect; a transaction that offends this principle, whatever its label or ostensible public purpose, is liable to be struck down.”
Summary
The Supreme Court has held that a State government, which the law requires to act as custodian of the properties of religious and charitable institutions, cannot itself become the recipient of a gift of such property — even when the transfer is meant to serve a public purpose such as constructing a government office.
The ruling arose from a 2017 gift deed by which a temporary trustee of the Nagapalayam Mariamman-Ponnachiamman Temple in Erode district, Tamil Nadu, gifted 1 acre and 10 cents of temple inam land to the State for the construction of a Taluk Office. The Court set aside a 2019 Madras High Court judgment that had upheld the transfer, declared the gift deed null and void, but allowed the already-built Taluk Office to continue on lease at enhanced rent.
Key Holdings
- The State, acting through its functionaries under the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959, is a custodian and regulator of temple properties, not their owner, and cannot accept a gift of such property from a trustee.
- A gift of inam property dedicated to the support or maintenance of a deity is void ab initio under Section 41(1) of the 1959 Act; the Act permits no sanction for such a gift, so none could have validated it.
- Registration of the gift deed, being contrary to Section 22-A of the Registration Act, 1908 (as applicable in Tamil Nadu), was of no legal effect.
- The administration of property belonging to a religious or charitable institution carries with it a duty of preservation, not a power of unfettered disposition; a trustee holds the property in a fiduciary capacity and cannot make a gratuitous alienation of it.
Directions Issued
- The Taluk Office built on the land was not ordered to be demolished; the State’s occupation will continue under a lease arrangement, with monthly rent enhanced to Rs. 31,000 with effect from 8 March 2019, to be re-fixed once in three years under Section 34-A of the 1959 Act (but not below that amount).
- Arrears of rent from 8 March 2019 till date, after adjusting amounts already paid, are to be paid by the State to the temple within three months.
- The State was directed to pay costs of Rs. 1,00,000 to the temple within eight weeks.
- The period of the lease, its renewal and remaining terms are to be determined by the temple trust in accordance with the 1959 Act, with the temple’s benefit as the paramount consideration.
Background
On 30 August 2017, S. Bhoopathy, a temporary trustee of the Nagapalayam Mariamman-Ponnachiamman Temple in Kodumudi village, Erode district, executed a gift deed transferring 1 acre and 10 cents of temple inam land (Survey Nos. 36/4, 36/5 and 41/2) to the Tamil Nadu government for a Taluk Office. The hereditary trustee’s challenge was dismissed by the Madras High Court on 19 March 2019 on the ground that Section 34 of the 1959 Act did not expressly mention “gift”. Temple devotees then approached the Supreme Court, and during the appeals the State itself admitted on affidavit that the land was inam land granted to the deity under Inam Title Deed No. 388.
Click here to read the full judgment/order
Disclaimer: This is a summary prepared for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Readers should refer to the official judgment for the authoritative text.
