‘Hindu deities have the same constitutional rights like any Indian citizen’

Hyderabad: Hindu deities have the same legal constitutional rights like any other bonafide citizen of this country and they morally, ethically and legally have the rights over their temples, properties and are bound by the fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution, Chilkur Balaji Temple head priest, C S Rangarajan, in an open letter to […]

Hyderabad: Hindu deities have the same legal constitutional rights like any other bonafide citizen of this country and they morally, ethically and legally have the rights over their temples, properties and are bound by the fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution, Chilkur Balaji Temple head priest, C S Rangarajan, in an open letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, said.

Referring to the issue of whether Hindu deities have constitutional rights, he wrote to the President and said, “a wrong legal advice was sent to you by union Law Ministry regarding rights of the deities. The ill-conceived legal advice stated that Hindu deities have no rights as per law and the Constitution. On the contrary, the deity has fundamental rights like any other citizen”.

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Deity is, in short, conceived as a living being and is treated in the same way as the master of the house would be treated by his humble servant. It is a fact that the right to life and personal liberty inclusive of dignity and self-respect of deity was higher than even Maharaja of Travancore by virtue of Thrippadi Danam obligation, which continues to be in force under Article 372, he said.

“We are requesting you to please discard the wrong legal opinion and refer the deity rights dispute to the Supreme Court under Article 143,” Rangarajan said.