Observing that deities should remain in temples and not in stock markets, the Bombay High Court on Friday rejected a petition seeking permission to open demat accounts in the names of Hindu Gods.
"Trading in shares on the stock market requires certain skills and expertise and to expect
this from deities would not be proper," observed Justices P B Majumdar and Rajendra Sawant while disposing of the petition filed by a religious trust.
The trust had filed a petition challenging the decision of National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) to refuse it permission for opening demat accounts in the names of five Hindu deities.
"When the Income Tax department has issued PAN cards to these five deities, why should not NSDL allow opening of demat accounts in their names?" the trust asked.
The deities of the Sangli-based trust Ganpati Panchayatam Sansthan are Lord Ganesh, Chintamaneshwardev, Chintamaneshwaridevi, Suryanarayandev and Laxminarayandev.
The trust, belonging to the Patwardhan family, the erstwhile royals of Sangli, had obtained PAN cards in the names of deities in 2008.
Recently, the trust applied for opening demat accounts in the names of these deities through a private bank but the request was turned down by NSDL.