The Supreme Court on Friday firmly ruled that temple funds cannot be used to support financially weak cooperative banks, upholding a Kerala High Court order directing the return of Thirunelly Temple Devaswom deposits.
A Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi questioned why banks were resisting shifting the money to a safer nationalised bank, remarking, “Temple money belongs to the deity and must be saved, protected and used only for temple interests, not for survival of a cooperative bank.”
Petitions were filed by Mananthawady Co-operative Urban Society Ltd and Thirunelly Service Cooperative Bank Ltd, who argued that immediate withdrawal of fixed deposits would burden them. The court disagreed, noting that attracting customers was the banks’ responsibility.
The appeal was dismissed, though banks may seek more time from the High Court for compliance. The dispute began after the Thirunelly Devaswom sought release of matured funds and several banks allegedly failed to return them.
This led the High Court to order refund by Thirunelly Service Cooperative Bank Ltd, Susheela Gopalan Smaraka Vanitha Cooperative Society Ltd, Mananthawady Cooperative Rural Society Ltd, Mananthawady Co-operative Urban Society Ltd, and Wayanad Temple Employees Cooperative Society Ltd.