Guruvayoor Devaswom Act, 1978

No: 14 Dated: Mar, 19 1978

THE GURUVAYOOR DEVASWOM ACT, 1978

Act 14 of 1978

    An Act to make provision for the proper administration of the Guruvayoor Devaswom

    Preamble. - Whereas the Sree Krishna temple at Guruvayoor is a very ancient temple of unique importance which owns extensive properties and endowments and in which millions of devotees from all over India are reposing their faith and belief;

    And whereas under the scheme framed by the High Court of Madras in Appeals Nos.211 and 212 of 1930, for the administration of the said Temple, as modified by the District Court, South Malabar, in O.S. No.I of 1938, the administration, control and management of the temple and its properties and endowments had been vested in the hereditary trustees, namely, the Zamorin Raja of Calicut and the Karanavan for the time being of the Mallisseri Illom at Guruvayoor;

    And whereas the administration and management of the said Temple and its properties and endowments had deteriorated and a situation had arisen rendering it expedient to reorganize, in the interests of the general public, the scheme of Management of the affairs of the Devaswom, the Guruvayoor Devaswom Act, 1971, was enacted to provide better management of the Devaswom in supersession of the said scheme;

    And whereas the High court of Kerala in its judgement in Original Petition No. 314 of 1973 struck down the operative provisions of the said Act on the ground that those provisions are violative of Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India;

    And whereas it is apprehended that if the administration, control and management of the Temple and its properties and endowments are vested in the hereditary trustees, the same situation which had rendered it expedient to reorganise the scheme of management of the affairs of the Devaswom and to enact the said Act is likely to arise;

    And whereas it is expedient to provide in the public interest and in the interest of the worshippers of the Temple for a proper administration of the said Devaswom in accordance with the law as laid down in the said judgement;

Be it enacted in the Twenty ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows: -

CHAPTER I

Preliminary

1. Short title and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the Guruvayoor Devaswom Act, 1978.

(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 29th day of November, 1977.

2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-

(a) "Administrator" means the Administrator appointed under section 14;

(b) "Commissioner" means an officer not below the rank of Secretary to Government, who professes the Hindu Religion and believes in Temple worship, appointed by the Government, by notification in the Gazette, to be the Commissioner for the purposes of this Act;

(c) "Committee" means the Guruvayoor Devaswom Managing Committee constituted under section 3;

(d) "Court" means the District Court having jurisdiction over the area in which the Temple is situated;

(e) "Devaswom" means the Temple , and includes its properties and endowments and the subordinate Temples attached to it;

(f) "person having interest in the Temple" means a person who is entitled to attend at, or is in the habit of attending, the performance of worship or service in the Temple or who is entitled to partake, or is in the habit of partaking, in the benefit of the distribution of gifts thereat;

(g) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(h) the expressions "Scheduled Castes" and "Scheduled Tribes" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Constitution of India;

(i) "Temple" means the Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayoor.