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Written Arguments Sabrimala - Padmanabhaswamy-Written-Submissions
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION SPECIAL LEAVE PETITON (CIVIL) No. 11295 OF 2011
IN THE MATTER OF: SRI MARTHANDA VARMA & ANR. (^) PETITIONERS VERSUS STATE OF KERALA & ORS. RESPONDENTS
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS BY ADVOCATE J. SAl DEEPAK ON BEHALF OF THE TANTRI^ ·^ OF^ THE PADMANABHASWAMV TEMPLE (INTERVENOR), PEOPLE FOR (^) DHARMA (INTERVENOR} AND M.V.SOUNDARARAJAN (INTERVENOR}
[FOR INDEX PLEASE SEE INSIDE]
ADVOCATE FOR PEOPLE FOR DHARMA AND THE TANTRI: SUVIDUTT M.S. ADVOCATERAMASUBRAMANIAN FOR M.V. SOUNDARARAJAN:
(} FILED^ ON:^ 24.04.
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in the Sabarimala case. Further, the Trust has filed PILs before the Hon'ble Kerala High Court with respect to causes relating to Temples which fall under the Travancore Devaswom Board. That apart, the Trust comprises individuals who are devotees of Lord Padmanabhaswamy, the Presiding Deity of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple ("The Temple") which is the subject ~f the Petition. Consequently, the Second Intervenor has the necessary locus to intervene and assist the Hon'ble Court in the Petition.
Parishad. As a devout Vaishnavite and believer of Lord Padmanabhaswamy, the Third Intervenor has the necessary locus to intervene and assist this Hon'ble Court in the Petition.
A. HISTORY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE RULER OF TRAVANCORE AND THE SHRI PADMANABHASWAMY TEMPLE PRIOR TO 1750, AND BETWEEN 1750 AND 2019
Bhagavan Parashurama (Bhargava) made a wooden idol and covered it with gold. Then He consecrated the murti and commenced pujas. Shloka 5- "Kshetra tantra dadauraamah taranaalayavaasine" Bhagavan Parashuramabestowed the Namboodiris from the Tarananalloor family with right to perform Tantram at the Temple. Shloka 6- "Vedaadhyayanaheenaanaam sameepagraamavaasinaam, Kshetrakaaryamdadau tatra kshetrarakshantu bhaargavah" Bhagavan Parashurama allotted the duty of managing the Temple rituals and protecting its practices to those brahmins from a nearby village, who did not have the right of vedaadhyayana. These are the Yogattilpottimaar brahmins, who are part of Ettarayogam and form the council to supervise the rituals of the Temple. Sloka 7-
"poojaartham kalpayaamaasa sabhaagraama nivaasinaah"
He ordained that the residents of Sabhagrama(a village in the modern day Kasargod district) shall do pujas to the Deity. Even today, the nambi priests are selected only from those families which were originally from that village.
v: Shlokas 10 and 11-
"nrsimhamoole dhanako~hajaalam praakaaramadhyeshatakoti ratnam
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niveshyaraamo bhagavaan mahaatmaa aadityabhoopaalam
tvamevataavat paripaalayasvayam shree padmanabhaalayam etamanvaham poojyashchamaanyo bhuvanekhilaanaam vikhyaatanaama
Bhagavan Parashurama placed the treasury at the Narasimha corner (Vault B) and huge numbers of gemstones in the Temple praakaaras (reference to the other vaults). Thereafter, Lord Paras~rama, that great soul who was akin to whirlwind, instructed Maharaja Aditya as follows: "You shall guard and nourish this Temple of SreePadmanabha by yourself everyday (which is the reason why the Ruler is expected to visit the Temple everyday). You shall be revered in all worlds as Kulashekhara" It is evident from the text of Kerala Mahatmyam that the Ruler is integral to the history of the Temple and has specific duties assigned to it right from the inception of the Temple, which he is expected to perform without exception. Clearly, the Travancore Family enjoys rights under Article 25(1) in so far as their rights and duties in relation to the Temple are concerned.
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Mahatmyam as the applicable scripture as well as the unbroken relationship between the Travancore Royal Family and the Padmanabhaswamy Temple.
iv. The Travancore State Manual- Published in 1906 and authored by V. Nagam Aiya, Dewan Peishcar of Travancore, this document too establishes the reliability of the Kerala Mahatmyam as the scripture for the Temple. This document starts at Page 100A of JSD 2. The relevant portions are at Pages 100, 104, 107 and 108.
v. Devaswoms in Travancore- This document has been placed on record at Pages 67-98 of JSD 1. Published in 1949, this document captures the entire history of Devaswoms in Travancore and its relationship to the Ruler. Pages 70- capture the relationship between the Travancore State and the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple and are consistent with the literature cited herein above. Pages 73-76 capture the relationship between the Travancore State and other Devaswoms. The three categories of Devaswoms are captured on Page 77 and the manner of their administration is captured from Page 78 onwards. This document effectively establishes that the treatment of the relationship between the Ruler and the Padmanabhaswamy Temple has been different and special compared to the relationship between the Ruler and other Devaswoms.
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ii. That the Ruler ~xercised exclusive control and supervision with respect to both, without any interference from the Council of Ministers or the Legislative Assembly. Clearly, the special and integral relationship between the Travancore Family and the Temple is continued through Article 4(a) of the Interim Constitution. The said Interim Constitution was promulgated in March 1948 after August 1947 when the Rulers of the States of Travancore and Cochin executed separate Instruments of Accession with the Dominion of India.
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i. In stark contrast to Articles IV(2) and XIV of the Covenant, Article VIII is not limited to the lifetime of the Ruler of Travancore who executed the Covenant;
ii. The special and integral relationship between the Ruler of Travancore and the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, which was recognized in Article 4(a) the Travancore Interim Constitution of 1948 is carried forward in Article VIII(b) of the Covenant, and again a distinction is struck between the relationship of the Ruler with the Temple on the one hand, and with other Temples which fall under the Travancore Devaswom Board on the other;
iii. Article VIII is a stand-alone recognition of the relationship between the Ruler of Travancore and the Temple, which is unaffected by other provisions of the Covenant. It is not part of the Privy Purse arrangement under Article XIV of the Covenant, nor is it part of the personal rights, privileges, dignities and titles of the Ruler as referred to in Article XVII of the Covenant. Therefore, any development or operation of law which affects any other provision of the Covenant still does not affect Article VIII;
iv. The relationship between the Travancore Family and the Deity represents an impartible and inalienable property which has been expressly and specially protected through a dedicated provision of the Covenant, namely Article VIII, as opposed to merely listing it as yet another private property in
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vi. The Instrument :of Accession entered into by the Rajpramukh of the United State of Travancore Cochin with the Government of India on July 14, 1949, clearly shows that the Ruler of Travancore, Shri Rama Varma, had signed the Instrument as the PadmanabhaDasa. The said document was placed on record by Mr. J. Sai Deepak during his oral submissions on March 27, 2019. Each of the above shows that the conduct of the Ruler of Travancore in so far as the Temple is concerned, has been consistent and the relationship between the Ruler/Family and the Temple remained unchanged even until the execution of the Instrument of Accession with the United State of Travancore Cochin in July 1949.
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of the Government of India and the Ordinances issued thereunder constitute the Constitution of the Travancore- Cochin Union.
(} It was this obligation that was assumed by the Indian Union as part of Article VIII of the Covenant, among other things. This establishes beyond doubt that there is no basis to assume that either the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple or any other Temple under the Travancore Devaswom Board are State-funded. In fact, they are not and they are merely receiving a consolidated amount as annuities from the vast tracts of land which were taken over from them. Therefore, the amounts being paid to the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple and the TDB are charges created on the Consolidated Fund, and not State largesse being paid from the taxpayer's money.
(Vesting and Enfranchisement) Act, 1971 (the said Act is at Pages 293-303 of JSD 1). At Page 308 of JSD 1, in the RTI Response dated October 17, 2017 issued by the then Executive Officer of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple to the Revenue (Devaswoms) Department of Kerala, it has been clearly stated that the annuity of INR 58,500 under the 1971 Act had not yet been paid for 2016-17 and 2017-18 as on date of the RTI Response.
guarantees and obligations under Article VIII of the Covenant. This ultimately led to Sections 18-23 of the of the Travancore Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act 1950 ("the TCHRI Act, 1950") which are dedicated to the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. Therefore, the nexus between the said provisions of the Act and Article VIII of the Covenant is manifest and " irrefutable. Importantly, despite amendments being effected to the TCHRI Act in 1958, 1974, 1976, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1999 and 2007, no amendment has been effected to Sections 18-23 of the Act notwithstanding any amendment to the Constitution, including the 26th Amendment in 1971 which abolished Privy Purses, repealed Articles 291 and 362, ·introduced Article 363A and amended