Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act: Removal of Mahant – Natural Justice

In Arjun Dass v. The State of Andhra Pradesh and Others (Civil Appeal No. [To Be Allocated] of 2026, arising out of SLP (Civil) No. 38500 of 2025, decided on May 29, 2026), the Supreme Court of India adjudicated a significant religious and administrative dispute concerning the removal of the Mathadhipathi (Mahant) of the historical Sri Swamy Hathiramji Mutt in Tirupathi under the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987 (“1987 Act”). The appellant challenged his removal by the Dharmika Parishad (and its subsequent confirmation by the State Government), which was based on an ex-parte enquiry report containing 16 charges of financial mismanagement, nepotism, and customary violations. The High Court of Andhra Pradesh had previously dismissed the appellant’s appeal, affirming his removal.

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside the High Court’s judgment along with the removal and confirmation orders, ruling that the entire disciplinary process was severely vitiated by gross violations of the principles of natural justice (audi alteram partem). The Division Bench of Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar found that the 27-page charge memo and 600 pages of supporting documents were never properly served upon the appellant, and his requests for documents and time to prepare his defense were ignored. Furthermore, the Court observed that a pre-decisional resolution passed by the Dharmika Parishad to simultaneously frame charges and suspend the Mahant revealed that the outcome was predetermined.

Invoking its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India to remedy systemic vulnerabilities and structural gaps in the statutory framework, the Supreme Court fashioned a unique, case-specific mechanism. It appointed an independent, one-man enquiry committee led by a retired District Judge to conduct a fresh, fair enquiry within one year. To preserve the institutional integrity of the Mutt’s extensive properties during this transition without severing the unique, legally blended spiritual and temporal components of Mahantship, the Court reinstated the appellant as Mathadhipathi. However, his administrative functions were subjected to the oversight of a newly formed, judicially supervised six-member Administrative Committee.

1. Factual Matrix & Institutional Conflict

• Rise to Mahantship: The appellant has been associated with the Sri Swamy Hathiramji Mutt since 1970. Starting as a Pujari in 1975, he rose through the ranks to be confirmed as the permanent Mahant by the apex Akhada Panchayat and officially appointed by the Commissioner of Endowments on July 6, 2000.
• Prior Rounds of State Litigation: Shortly after his appointment, the appellant engaged in litigation to force the Endowments Department to hand over the secular management of the Mutt to him. The department retaliated by suo motu canceling his appointment order in 2003, an action that was subsequently set aside by a Single Judge of the High Court in 2006. Following mandatory government orders, the secular management and vast properties were formally returned to the appellant in late 2006.
• The 2023 Charges and Physical Seizure: Following temporary suspension cycles between 2018 and 2020 triggered by local newspaper reports, the newly constituted Dharmika Parishad passed a unified resolution on May 09, 2023, authorizing the simultaneous preparation of charges and suspension orders against the appellant. On June 8, 2023, the Parishad simultaneously issued 16 charges, suspended the appellant, and appointed an administrator (“Fit Person”). On the very same day, the Endowments Department physically seized the Mutt office and expelled the appellant from his residence while he was away on a pilgrimage.

2. The Ex-Parte Enquiry Report & Removal

The three-member enquiry committee conducted its entire proceedings ex-parte on a single day, July 19, 2023, after serving a notice to the appellant via WhatsApp just five days prior. The appellant’s advocate had transmitted three separate requests via email and personal delivery seeking a copy of the 600 pages of relied-upon evidence and a one-month extension due to the appellant falling ill with viral fever in Ayodhya. The committee discarded these requests on technical grounds (characterizing them as an “unsigned letter on WhatsApp”) and submitted its report on August 1, 2023, finding all 16 charges proved.

The charges included executing an unauthorized sale agreement of Mutt property, purchasing assets in his personal name, violating monastic customs, delaying employee benefits, and failing to pay statutory department dues. On November 24, 2023, the Dharmika Parishad issued the formal Removal Order, which was confirmed by the State Government via a Government Order (G.O.Ms. No. 581) on December 8, 2023.

3. Legal Analysis & Core Reasoning of the Court

A. Foundations of Procedural Fairness in Religious Offices

The Supreme Court emphasized that the removal of a Mathadhipathi is not a simple administrative exercise. It actively impacts substantive civil rights, specifically the right to hold a religious office and pursue a spiritual vocation. Under Article 14 of the Constitution, the rule of audi alteram partem operates with full force in such quasi-judicial proceedings. Citing Canara Bank v. V. K. Awasthy (2005), the Court reiterated that a precise, unambiguous notice accompanied by the complete evidentiary materials forming the baseline of the accusations is a non-negotiable requirement of fair play. An abstract opportunity to defend oneself without a full disclosure of the evidence is entirely illusory.

B. The Legal Absurdity of Purported Service by Affixation

The state robustly argued that the principles of natural justice were satisfied because the 27-page charge memo had been served via email and by affixing it to the door of the Mahant’s residence under a Panchanama on June 9, 2023. The Supreme Court completely rejected this defense, exposing a structural contradiction:

• The state’s own photographic records proved that the Endowments Department had already physically seized the entire Mutt premises and locked out the appellant on June 8, 2023.
• The Court noted that for the state to dispossess an individual from his residence, assume total physical control of the doors, and then claim valid legal service by pasting notices on those very doors is a “legal absurdity”. Once an individual is locked out by the state, the legal fiction of constructive notice collapses because they no longer have physical access to see the door. Furthermore, the records showed that only the 6-page “Fit Person” appointment order was pasted, while the 600 pages of supporting documents were completely omitted.

[ THE STRUCTURAL BREACH OF SERVIC

The respondents argued that any procedural gaps in the initial enquiry were cured because the appellant was later given a chance to submit detailed written explanations to a final show-cause notice on November 3, 2023, and was granted a personal hearing with his lawyers on November 16, 2023.

The Supreme Court rejected this argument, clarifying that an opportunity afforded on the back of a fundamentally tainted, ex-parte enquiry report—compiled without supplying the relied-upon documents—cannot substitute for a valid statutory enquiry under Section 51(2) of the 1987 Act. A fair hearing at a later stage cannot breath legal life into a process that was structurally compromised and predetermined from its inception.

D. Piercing the Procedural Vacuum via Article 142

The ordinary course of action following the quashing of a removal order would be to remand the matter back to the statutory body (Dharmika Parishad) for a de novo enquiry. However, the Supreme Court determined that a simple remand would leave the appellant’s civil and religious rights unprotected due to severe structural impediments:

1. The Institutional Taint: The Dharmika Parishad is composed entirely of state nominees and ex-officio government functionaries. The officials who would sit on a reconstituted board are the very individuals whose prior hostile conduct and rushed, ex-parte procedures created the initial legal infirmities. REMANDING the dispute to them would re-create the exact conditions of bias.
2. The Procedural Vacuum: Section 51(2) authorizes the Parishad to frame charges but leaves a complete statutory vacuum regarding the execution of an independent, neutral enquiry. The state had filled this gap by misapplying Rule 26 of the 2009 Rules—designed purely for internal administrative committees—to create a disciplinary body. This effectively allowed the adjudicating authority to act as investigator, prosecutor, and judge.
3. The Concept of Mahantship: Relying on the landmark constitutional authority in The Commissioner, H.R.E. Madras v. Sri Lakshmindra Thirtha Swamiar of Sri Shirur Mutt (1954), the Court reiterated that in the legal concept of Mahantship, the elements of religious office and property administration are seamlessly blended and cannot be detached. Keeping the Mutt under the indefinite control of a state-appointed “Fit Person” while a lawful Mahant is active violates Article 26 of the Constitution.

4. Final Decretal Directions & Interim Regime

Invoking its plenary and supplementary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice, fill procedural vacuums, and ensure a completely fair, unbiased resolution, the Supreme Court ordered a case-specific interim regime:

A. Setting Aside of Impugned Actions

The High Court’s judgment dated May 09, 2025, the Dharmika Parishad’s Removal Order dated November 24, 2023, the government’s confirmation order (G.O.Ms. No. 581), and the original 2023 enquiry report are all set aside.

B. Appointment of a One-Man Independent Enquiry Committee

• The Arbitrator: Boddepalli Rama Rao, a retired District Judge, is appointed as a one-man independent enquiry committee to review the 16 charges afresh.
• Procedural Protections: The Principal District Judge at Chittoor must provide a neutral venue within the Tirupati Court Complex and depute two court staff to assist the committee.
• The Timeline: The state must hand over all 600 pages of supporting materials to the committee within two weeks, which will then immediately supply them to the appellant. The appellant will have a minimum of four weeks to submit his statement of defense. The committee must afford full opportunities for the cross-examination of witnesses and submit its final report to the Endowments Department within one year.

C. Reinstatement and the Six-Member Administrative Committee

The appellant is immediately restored to his office and legal status as the Mathadhipathi of the Mutt, enabling him to conduct all core religious and spiritual activities. However, to guarantee absolute transparency over the Mutt’s extensive, vulnerable estates during the pending enquiry, the Court constituted a six-member Administrative Committee to assist and oversee secular functions under Section 55(2)(b) of the Act:

D. The Administrative Committee’s Mandate

• The committee shall act strictly in a supervisory and facilitative capacity, without displacing the appellant’s spiritual authority.
• It must prepare a comprehensive asset inventory of all movable and immovable Mutt properties within three months.
• It must protect Mutt lands from encroachment and track all active litigations.
• Strict Restraint: No asset alienation, leasing, mortgaging, or creation of third-party rights over Mutt properties shall take place without the prior, written permission of the Administrative Committee.
• All expenses and a sitting fee (₹25,000 for the Chairman; ₹10,000 for members) shall be defrayed directly from the Mutt’s internal funds, and the committee must endeavor to meet at the head office at least once every three months.

E. Finality of the Interim Regime

This arrangement serves as an interim regime operational only until the Endowment Department passes its final order based on the independent retired judge’s report[cite: 20]. If the final report is adverse and results in a new removal order, the appellant retains the liberty to file a statutory appeal within one month[cite: 20]. Given its highly unique facts, this order shall not be treated as a legal precedent to supplant the statutory authority of the Dharmika Parishad in other cases[cite: 20].

2026 INSC 592

Arjun Dass  V. State of Andhra Pradesh And Others (D.O.J. 29.05.2026)

2026 INSC 592 click here to view full text of judgment