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Madras High Court Orders Shutdown of Fake Websites Misleading Devotees, Earning Profit in Name of Temple

The Madras HC has ordered closure of all illegal/unauthorised websites/Webpages that have been created in the name of temples and which have been collecting funds from the devotees by misleading them. This was seen in the matter of P Markandan v. The Commissioner HR&CE Department, Case No: Writ Petition (MD) Nos. 23410 and 23671 of 2022, the matter was presided over by the Coram of Honourable Mr. Justice R. Mahadevan & The Honourable Mr. Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad

FACTS OF THE CASE

Noting that temples are places of worship which people visit to get perpetual peace & harmony, the bench of Justice R Mahadevan & Justice Sathya Narayana Prasad clenched that temples shouldn’t turn into places for attaining profits. Therefore, the court clenched that apart from the official webpage of the temple, the third parties shouldn’t be permitted to maintain webpages in the name of temples & collect funds.

Temples are places for worship visited by a host of citizens of varied cultures to get the perpetual peace & harmony and it cannot be permitted to be turned as a platform for generating profit. Therefore, it is high time that the webpages opened in the name of the temples by the third parties unauthorisedly to garner huge money, be closed & thereafter, it must be ensured that other than the official webpage of the temples, there shall not be any other webpage in existence to render any sort of service to the devotees.

The petitioners had approached the court after observing that several webpages had been created by third parties and were collecting money from the public for offering various services & religious activities in the temple without the knowledge of the temple administration.

It was also contended that some unauthorised archakas were entering the temple to perform poojas. Further, some Priests/ Gurukkals/ Archakars have created a new temple by the name Sri Markandeya temple and were swaying devotees to visit the temples therefore misappropriating funds. Therefore, they sought appropriate directions against the same.

The court noted that it was necessary to protect the rights of the temples and to put an end to these illegalities. Thus, the court directed closure of the illegal webpages with the help of officials from the Cyber crime wing. Further, a list of official webpages of the temples could be provided to the Department of Telecommunication & Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology so that the internet service providers can be instructed to continuously block all other illegal webpages that may pop up with fake domain names or IP addresses.

The court also suggested that the existing webpages of the temples could be revamped to provide online services regarding rituals & poojas. Mechanisms can also be introduced for online booking and for making donations. These existing webpages should be given wide publicity as per guidelines of the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department. The temples can also provide a dedicated contact number of an officer who can be informed about the existence of bogus webpages. The department can then take appropriate civil & criminal action.

The court also directed officials of the Cybercrime wing to take immediate action whenever complaints are received with respect to bogus webpages. They shall also conduct periodical inspections & report any illegality for appropriate action. Temple administration was also directed to take all efforts to prevent touts from providing services.

The court directed that adequate boards & hundials will be placed across the temples informing devotees of the details of the temple. The information will also include details (including fee) of the services offered and the payment gateway for the same.

Only the temple administration will be authorised to collect amount for performing various services & due receipt will be given to the devotees. These amounts will be properly accounted for and audited. Further, only authorised Archakars/Guides & photographers will be permitted in the temple after registering themselves with identity cards to prevent touts.

JUDGEMENT

The court also suggested that all the procedures with respect to the religious ceremonies have to be streamlined to ensure systematic, transparent & smooth functioning of the religious activities of the temples. With respect to Sri Markandeya Temple, the HR&CE department had submitted that a fit person was already appointed to look after the affairs of the temple. The court directed the fit person to ensure that all the expenditures in the temple are duly accounted for and that the services are offered through authorised webpages only.

 

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JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY YAKSHU JINDAL.

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