Petitions were filed by a local trust, seeking removal of a 2018 ban on festivals, and by petitioner Marimuthu, who alleged caste-based exclusion.
Published Sep 18, 2025 | 4:08 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 18, 2025 | 4:08 PM
Madras High Court. (Wikimedia)
Synopsis: Justice B Pugalendhi noted, “The District Collector and the Superintendent of Police of Karur District have displayed an utter abdication of constitutional responsibility. They have not preserved peace, instead they have preserved discrimination. They have not defended rights, instead they have defended violations. By their conduct, they have confessed that they are unfit to discharge the duties of their office.”
“Equality in worship is non-negotiable. The law must speak firmly so that no person or group dares to deny temple entry on caste grounds,” observed the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. It further come down heavily on the District Collector and the Superintendent of Police in Karur District of Tamil Nadu for failing to prevent caste discrimination in two temples there.
According to Livelaw, Justice B Pugalendhi noted, “The District Collector and the Superintendent of Police of Karur District have displayed an utter abdication of constitutional responsibility. They have not preserved peace, instead they have preserved discrimination. They have not defended rights, instead they have defended violations. By their conduct, they have confessed that they are unfit to discharge the duties of their office.”
The judge further recalled the historic struggles for temple entry, including the Vaikom Satyagraha of 1924–25, the Guruvayur Satyagraha of 1931–32, and the Temple Entry Proclamation of 1936 in Travancore.
A turning point came in 1939, when the Madras Temple Entry Authorisation and Indemnity Act empowered trustees to admit Scheduled Caste devotees. Under this Act, reformers A. Vaidyanatha Iyer and L. N. Gopalaswami, along with P. Kakkan and others, entered the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai.
Mahatma Gandhi hailed the event as a spiritual victory and later described his 1946 temple visit with Scheduled Caste devotees as one of his most fulfilling experiences. The message from 1939, the court noted, was clear, caste had no place in worship.
The bench expressed concern that in 2025, the very land where Gandhi celebrated equality still saw Scheduled Caste devotees barred from entering the Mariamman Temple at Chinna Dharapuram in Karur.
Petitions were filed by a local trust, seeking removal of a 2018 ban on festivals, and by petitioner Marimuthu, who alleged caste-based exclusion.
The court ordered that Scheduled Caste devotees be allowed entry, but observed it was shameful that such rights required judicial enforcement instead of moral conviction. District officials, the judge said, failed in their duty by allowing the temple to remain shut since 2018.
Noting that some attempted to obstruct worship during the recent entry, the court directed that the criminal case be pursued promptly and taken to its logical end.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Veni EN)
