In the Supreme Court of India Civil Appellate
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION [ORDER XXI RULE 3(1) (a)] SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (Under Article 136 of the Constitution of India) SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (CIVIL) No.______ OF 2020 [Against the impugned Judgment passed by the Hon’ble High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital in Writ Petition (PIL) No.26 of 2020 dated 21.07.2020] [WITH PRAYER FOR INTERIM RELIEF] IN THE MATTER OF: - INDIC COLLECTIVE TRUST … PETITIONER VERSUS DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY & ORS. ... RESPONDENTS WITH I.A. No. of 2020 Application Seeking Permission to File SLP WITH I.A. No. of 2020 Application Seeking Exemption from Filing Certified Copy of the Impugned Judgment WITH I.A. No. of 2020 Application for Exemption from Filing Notarized Affidavit PAPER BOOK [FOR INDEX PLEASE SEE INSIDE] ADVOCATE FOR THE PETITIONER: SUVIDUTT M.S. FILED ON: 15.10.2020 INDEX S.No. Particulars of Documents Page No. of part of Remarks which it belongs Part I Part II (Contents (Contents of Paper of file Book) alone) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) 1. O/R on Limitation A A 2. Listing Proforma A1-A2 A1-A2 3. Cover Page of Paper Book A-3 4. Index of Record of A-4 Proceeding 5. Limitation Report prepared A-5 by Registry 6. Defect List A-6 7. Note Sheet NS1 to … 8. List of Dates B – ST 9. True copy of the impugned 1 – 129 Judgment passed by the Hon’ble High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital, in Writ Petition (PIL) No.26 of 2020 dated 21.07.2020 10. Special Leave Petition with 130 – 160 Affidavit 11. APPENDIX Relevant provisions of: 1. Constitution of India, 161 – 164 1950 2. The Uttarakhand Char 165 – 185 Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019 12. ANNEXURE - P 1 186 – 235 True copy of the Writ Petition filed in the High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital bearing Writ Petition (PIL) No.26 of 2020 dated 15.02.2020 13. I.A. No. of 2020 236 – 240 Application Seeking Permission to File SLP 14. I.A. No. of 2020 241 – 242 Application Seeking Exemption from Filing Certified Copy of the Impugned Judgment 15. I.A. No. of 2020 243 – 244 Application for Exemption from Filing Notarized Affidavit 16. F/M 245 17. V/A 246 A IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) NO. OF 2020 IN THE MATTER OF: - INDIC COLLECTIVE TRUST … PETITIONER VERSUS DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY & ORS. ... RESPONDENTS OFFICE REPORT ON LIMITATION 1. The Petition is/ are within time. 2. The Petition is barred by time and there is delay of Nil____ days in filing the same against the impugned judgment dated 21.07.2020 and application for condonation of Nil days delay has been filed. 3. There is delay of Nil days in re-filing the petition and application for condonation of Nil days delay in re-filing has been filed. BRANCH OFFICER NEW DELHI DATED: 15.10.2020 A 1 PROFORMA FOR FIRST LISTING SECTION: X The case pertains to (Please tick/check the correct box): Central Act : Constitution of India Section : Article 14, 26, 31-A Central Rule : N/A Rule No(s) : N/A State Act : The Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019 Section : N/A State Rule : N/A Rule No (s) : N/A Impugned Interim Order : (Date) N/A Impugned Final Judgment : 21.07.2020 High Court : High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital Name of Judges : Hon’ble Ramesh Ranganathan, C.J., Hon’ble R.C. Khulbe, J. Tribunal/Authority: N/A 1. Nature of Matter : CIVIL CRIMINAL 2.(a) Petitioner/Appellant No.1 : Indic Collective Trust (b) e-mail ID : N/A (c) Mobile Phone Number : N/A 3.(a) Respondent No.1 : Dr.Subramanian Swamy (b) e-mail ID : N/A (c) Mobile Phone Number : N/A 4.(a) Main category classification : 08 (b) Sub-classification : 0816 5. Not to be listed before : N/A 6. a) Similar disposed off matter with : No similar matter citation, if any, & case details disposed off A 2 b) Similar pending matters with : No similar matter case details pending 7. CRIMINAL MATTERS : N/A (a) Whether accused/ convict has : Yes No surrendered? (b) FIR No. : N/A (c) Police Station : N/A (d) Sentence Undergone : N/A 8. LAND ACQUISITION MATTERS : N/A (a) Date of Section 4 Notification : N/A (b) Date of Section 6 Notification : N/A (c) Date of Section 17 Notification : N/A 9. TAX MATTERS : N/A 10. SPECIAL CATEGORY : N/A (First Petitioner/ Appellant only) Senior Citizen > 65 Years SC/ST Woman/Child Disabled Legal Aid Case In Custody 11. Vehicle number (in case of Motor Accident Claim matters): N/A Date: 15.10.2020 SUVIDUTT M.S. AOR for Petitioner (s)/ Appellant (s) AOR Code: 2401 Email: [email protected] Mob: 9999778751 B SYNOPSIS 1. The Petitioner herein seeks special leave to appeal against the Impugned Judgment dated 21.07.2020 in W.P. (PIL) No. 26 of 2020 (hereinafter referred to as the “Impugned Judgement”) passed by the Hon’ble High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital. The Hon’ble High Court dismissed the Writ Petition filed by Dr. Subramanian Swamy (Member of Parliament) thereby upholding the validity and constitutionality of the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act of 2019 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘2019 Act’). 2. FACTUAL MATRIX OF THE CASE: 2.1 The Petitioner, as an organization, and its Trustees have been campaigning for better management of Indic (including Hindu) religious institutions through community empowerment in the management of the said institutions in accordance with Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution. To this end, the Petitioner has filed Writ Petitions before various High Courts and Interventions and Petitions before this Hon’ble Court in matters relating to administration and maintenance of Hindu religious institutions. Further, the Trustees of the Petitioner include followers of Indic faith systems including Sanatana Dharma and are devotees of the deities to which the Temples under purview of the C impugned Act belong. Therefore, the impugned judgment of the Uttarakhand High Court is bound to have a bearing on the rights of the Trustees as well as the Hindu community at large. Consequently, the Petitioner has the necessary locus to file the instant Special Leave Petition. 2.2 The Char Dham are the four different sites in four different corners of the country, where the largest Temples or centers of faith for the entire Indic civilization lie i.e. Badrinath, Puri, Rameshwaram and Dwarka. The Uttarakhand Char Dham is better known as the Chhota Char Dham, pilgrimage to which is considered equivalent to traveling throughout the country to the main sites a described above. This shorter circuit of holy sites is made of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. Pilgrimage to this circuit is of great significance for all Indic Faiths as it is believed to open the gates for salvation. The importance of the sites and their significance as the religious center for the entire civilization is such that each year the numbers of pilgrim reaching there multiplies manifold. The faith in the Temples that form the entire circuit is immense and any arbitrary interference with the functioning and maintenance of these institutions are D bound to impact the feelings of crores of devotees not just in India but throughout the world. 2.3 Each of these sites and Temples have their own traditional management systems and the same have been briefly discussed below as precursor to the averments made in this petition: 2.4 YAMUNOTRI: The site is the source for the Yamuna River and the seat for the goddess Yamuna. The Temple is situated on the side of the Bandarpoonch Parbat and near the foot of the Kalind Parbat hence requiring pilgrims to take ardent trekking to reach to this highest Temple of the river goddess. The idol of the goddess Yamuna is made of black marble and decorated with garlands. An idol of the goddess Ganga in white marble also sits beside the main idol of Devi Yamuna. Yamunotri Temple was constructed by the king of Tehri, Shri Naresh Sudarshan Shah in 1839 which was damaged by a massive earthquake and subsequently reconstructed by the Maharani of Jaipur Smt. Gularia Devi in the 19th Century AD. The Uniyal family of priests from the ancient villages of Jaled and Roomdhar are the successors of the venerated rishis Kashyap and Bhardvaja. All the ritual duties in the temple of Yamunotri E are performed and supervised by these priests since times unknown. 2.5 GANGOTRI: The site is revered as the sacred spot where the heavenly Goddess Ganga descended on earth in form of a river. The glacier named Gaumukh which is the origin of the river Ganga is 19 kms away from the Gangotri Temple. The river Ganga is the most sacred and significant river for all Indic faiths, its considered to be perennial, powerful and most pure and its water in form of blessings is an important part of every ritual and tradition. Therefore, the significance of this Temple and many smaller temples and ashrams lined up at this site is immense. The bed of the river adjoining the Gangotri Temple is divided into three basins each dedicated to the Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh/Shiva. The Pilgrimage to this site and water from this site is meant to purify all creatures, things and souls. The original Gangotri Temple was constructed by a Gorkha General, Amar Singh Thapa in 18th Century which was reconstructed in the present form by the Maharaja of Jaipur Shri Sawai Jay Singh in the 19th Century A.D.