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The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on September 19, the plea(s) which have challenged certain provisions of The Hindu Endowments Acts' across India on the ground that they pervade right to equality as all other religions have no such regulation.

A bench of CJI UU Lalit & Justice Ravindra Bhat was hearing a plea raising questions about various Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HRCE) laws operating in different states across India. One of the petitioner(s) Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has alleged in his petition that "states have used the precedent of Tamil Nadu to pass HRCE Acts, seeing temple funds as cookie jars, (which) they can raid for all and sundry purposes."

Senior Advocate Arvind Datar appearing for the petitioner(s) stated that the instant case is one in the Endowments acts in all states viz. Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu has been challenged. "What came from the Madras HC judgments is that endowments of hindus come under concurrent list. We are saying that either you regulate all endowments or regulate none," he said.

Senior Advocate Gopal Shankaranarayan who also appeared for the petitioner(s) stated that Hindu endowments were being treated differently from other religions and that they are controlled by the government. "There is a larger question here, concerning article 14 and 25(2) of the constitution"

Shankaranarayan added that the Church and the State needs to be separated and that if there was no separation, the same needed to be fixed.

At this juncture, the bench questioned why a practice which was 150 years old was challenged now. 

"Ultimately, the wealth of the people which is in receipt of the temple is going back to the people," said Justice R. Bhat

The petitioner(s) lawyers stated that there was enough data to suggest that money which was in receipt of temples was being fettered away and mismanaged. "50,000 temples in Karnataka have been shut down because they had no money for management," stated Shankaranarayan.

The bench sought credible data and evidence to proceed with the lis and posted the case for further hearing on September 19.

Raising questions about equal treatment of temples, gurudwaras at par with mosques, churches etc, the plea asks whether a secular state can make laws to abridge rights of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs guaranteed under Article 26 of Constitution of India, whether the Religious and Chaitable Endowments laws enacted under Article 26 must be in conformity with Articles 14,15, and whether state laws which discriminate against temples, gurudwaras, mosques and churces are contrary to Articles 14, 15 and 26.

Basis these questions, the plea is seeking direction(s)/order(s)/declaration that Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists "have similar rights to establish, manage and maintain their religious places like Muslims, Parsis, Christians" and that "those belonging to these religions have similar rights to own, acquire, administer movable, immovable properties of their religious places like Muslims, Christians and that the State cannot abridge these rights."