NAR HARI SASTRI AND OTHERS vs SHRI BADRINATH TEMPLE COMMITTEE.

The Supreme Court held that the Deoprayagi Pandas possess a legal right to enter the Badrinath Temple with their Yajmans, subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by the temple committee for maintaining order. The Court found that the Badrinath Temple Act, 1939, does not grant the temple committee the authority to claim gifts made to Pandas within the temple precincts. It upheld the validity of bye-law (8) of the Puja Bye-laws, which prohibits the acceptance of gifts unless authorized by the committee, thus denying the Pandas' claim for a declaration of entitlement to such gifts.