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Communist governments are trying to take over the temples: Former SC judge
In the video, Justice Malhotra claims that she and Chief Justice of India (CJI) Uday Umesh Lalit said that they will not allow it.
A video of former Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra emerged on social media on Sunday, in which she can be seen commenting that Communist governments want to take control of Hindu temples because of the revenue these temples generate.
“This is what happens with these Communist governments. They want to take over because of their revenue. Their problem is the revenue. All over they have taken over..all over..only Hindu temples,” the retired judge is seen telling a group of people. HT cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video. Attempts to reach the former judge were also not successful.
In the video, Justice Malhotra claims that she and Chief Justice of India (CJI) Uday Umesh Lalit said that they will not allow it.
Justice Malhotra and CJI Lalit were part of a bench in the top court, which in July 2020 delivered a judgment over control and management of Kerala’s Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. The bench had set aside a Kerala high court ruling that allowed the state government to take control of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple and manage its affairs through a committee. This bench instead affirmed the mandate of the erstwhile ruling family of Travancore to continue its involvement in the management of the temple.
Earlier in the day, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted his photo with Justice Malhotra. “Pleased to meet retired Supreme Court Justice Indu Malhotra at the Trivandrum Medical College function today. A remarkable lady,” Tharoor posted.
Justice Malhotra also happened to be the lone dissenting voice on the five-judge bench that had in 2018 held that women of all ages should be allowed in Kerala’s Sabrimala temple.
In her judgment, she said that matters of deep religious sentiment should not be interfered with by the court and that the subject of rationality should not be seen in religious beliefs.
“Issues of deep religious sentiments should not be ordinarily be interfered by the court… What constitutes essential religious practice is for the religious community to decide, not for the court,” Justice Malhotra had held in her judgment.
Currently, the Sabrimala case along with a batch of other petitions relating to religious practices across various faiths is pending before a nine-judge bench.
