NARAYAN BHAGWANTRAO GOSAVIBALAJIWALE vs GOPAL VINAYAK GOSAVI AND OTHERS

The Supreme Court, in this case concerning the Charitable and Religious Trusts Act, 1920, specifically Section 5(3), held that the ancient temple of Shri Balaji Venkatesh at Nasik constituted a public charitable and religious trust. The Court found that the deity was a public deity and that the properties associated with the temple were not personal properties of the appellant but belonged to the deity. The appeal was dismissed as the courts below correctly concluded that the absence of the deity as a party rendered any decree ineffective against it.