In Brief
A temple trust challenged High Court orders that recognized a deceased archak's descendants as deemed tenants with occupancy rights in temple agricultural property in Karnataka. The descendants had admitted before the Land Tribunal they were not tenants but later claimed rights based on constructing a house on the property. The Supreme Court held that since the respondents admittedly were not tenants under land reform law and made no valid report of acquisition as required by revenue law, no valid entry could exist in their favor in the Record of Rights. The Court set aside the High Court judgment and upheld the revenue authorities' correction of the revenue records in the temple's favor, protecting the temple's property and affirming a temple manager's fiduciary duty to the deity."
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.