Overview

• Declining an interim stay, the bench left in place the Madras High Court order that struck down government approvals for marriage halls financed by temple money.
• Justice Sandeep Mehta warned that using even a single rupee of temple funds before the next hearing could invite contempt proceedings.
• The judges said devotees do not donate for setting up wedding venues and suggested directing such resources to education or medical charities.
• The Madurai bench’s August 19 ruling held rental wedding halls were not a ‘religious purpose’ and affirmed that temple funds are not public or government money.
• State counsel argued marriages are religious activities and cited a hall earning ₹7 lakh a day for a deity, while petitioners said the plan breached the HR&CE Act and noted a budget plan for 27 halls using about ₹80 crore.