70-year-old dispute ends: Gujarat High Court rules Ambaji Temple is public property, rejects royal family claims

The court referred to the 1957 apex court judgment, which held that the petitioner has no right over the temple or the property of the temple. Once the property is bequeathed to the deity, then it is the property of that deity, and the heirs of the Danta state cannot claim rights over the temple or its property, as it is public property.

While reffering to the Supreme Court observation the court said that in case bar imposed under Article 363 (bar to interference by courts in disputes arising out of certain treaties, agreements) of the Constitution of India that all the disputes relating to the merger agreement there was separate machinery is provided and, therefore, the claim of the appellant regarding shrine is a private property is not tenable.

“I am in complete agreement with the findings recorded by the charity commissioner and district judge in granting privileges and performing the puja on a special occasion and giving permission to enter into the sanctorum and permitting Chamar to Goddess Amba is completely illegal, erroneous, and unreasonable,” the court ruled.

Background

The case stems from the plea filed in 2009 under Section 72(4) (trust existence or public trust status) of the Bombay Public Trust Act, challenging the 2008 district court order, where the application contesting registration of the temple and its property and privileges to the petitioner was dismissed.

Beyond ownership, the heirs also sought court intervention to secure specific hereditary rights and privileges they had historically enjoyed. It includes the right to offer puja on the 8th day of Navratri and to perform the Havan in the temple, wave the Chamar before the Goddess, and the right to see that while he performed the puja and rendered service to the Goddess, while pilgrims were excluded from the temple premises.

The dispute spans from the pre-independence of India to the post-independence of India. The petitioners claimed that the Goddess Amba Bhavani is the Kuldevi (family deity) of the Maharana’s ancestors, who they claim consecrated and built the temple in 1136. They claimed that the temple and its properties were the private property of the Ruler, as distinct from state properties.

The roots of this dispute go back to the era of Indian independence and the Merger Agreement of October 5, 1948. The legal battle over the ownership of the temple and its properties started in 1953, when the Maharana filed a plea in the Bombay High Court seeking to restrain the government from taking possession of the temple, claiming it as private property under the merger agreement.

In 1957, the Supreme Court, in its order, held that the petitioner had no right over the temple or property of the temple, observing that the Maharana had not shown title to the temple and ordering him to relinquish possession and render accounts to the state.

Decision

The court held that in view of the order passed by the Supreme Court and this court, unless and until the appellant establishes his right over the property, he is not permitted or allowed to perform any special puja on the 8th day of Ashwin Maas Navratri.

“It is pertinent to note that to date, the heirs of the erstwhile Danta State have not succeeded in any Court of law concerning the fact that the disputed property, i.e., shrine of Aarasuri Amba Maata temple, is private property,” the court said.

The court added that it is crystal clear that the Arasuri Ambaji Temple is a public temple and, therefore, the order of registering the trust under the Gujarat (Bombay) Public Trust Act is hereby upheld, and therefore, the first plea filed by the appellant deserves to be dismissed.