The Indian Express ·
Crime, law and justice
Supreme Court relief for Kashi Math head in valuables’ recovery case
Raghavendra Thirtha Swami’s appeal against a judgment that allowed Kashi Math Samsthan head Samyamindra Thirtha Swami to continue execution proceedings to recover Math valuables was dismissed.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed Raghavendra Thirtha Swami’s appeal challenging a Kerala High Court judgment that allowed Kashi Math Samsthan head Samyamindra Thirtha Swami to continue execution proceedings to recover Math valuables from him amid an ongoing succession dispute.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi dismissed the special leave petition challenging the high court’s August 3 order. “We do not find any good ground to entertain this petition. The special leave petition is, accordingly, dismissed,” the court said in its September 15 order. The Samsthan headquartered in Varanasi is popularly referred to as Gowda Saraswat Brahmin Kashi Math.
Appearing for the respondent Samyamindra Tirtha Swami, senior advocate Guru Krishna Kumar and advocate Lakshmeesh S Kamath contended that the Kerala High Court was right in allowing him to replace the original decree holder even without the sanction of the Tirupati court, which had granted the original decree.
The high court order allowed Samyamindra Tirtha Swami to be substituted in the execution proceedings in place of his predecessor, Math head and original decree holder Sudhindra Thirtha Swami, following the latter’s demise in January 2017.
The litigation has its genesis in a dispute on the headship and administration of the Samsthan between Sudhindra Thirtha Swami and Raghavendra Thirtha Swami, who claimed to be the “identified successor”.
In 2000, Raghavendra Thirtha Swami filed a suit before the additional district court, Tirupati, seeking a declaration that he was the lawful 21st head of the Math. He also sought a permanent injunction restraining Sudhindra Thirtha Swami and the Tirumala branch of the Math from interfering with the Samsthan’s affairs and administration.
The trial court dismissed the suit on January 28, 2009, permanently restrained Raghavendra Thirtha Swami from interfering with the administration and affairs of the Samsthan and asked him to hand over all deities, religious articles, and other properties of the Samsthan to Sudhindra Thirtha Swami.
Raghavendra Thirtha Swami challenged this before the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad, which dismissed the appeal and affirmed the trial court order on June 1, 2015.
In the proceedings that followed, the execution was transferred to the additional district court, Ernakulam, after Raghavendra Thirtha Swami raised objections to the territorial jurisdiction of the Tirupati court. This was upheld by the Kerala High Court on September 5, 2011.
During the pendency of the proceedings, the original decree-holder, Sudhindra Thirtha Swami, passed away on January 16, 2017, at Haridwar. As per his will, Samyamindra Thirtha Swami was nominated as his successor. Raghavendra Thirtha Swami, however, disputed the will’s validity, legal effect, and enforceability.
Samyamindra Thirtha Swami subsequently approached the Ernakulam court, seeking to replace Sudhindra Thirtha Swami in the execution proceedings. But the court ruled that he should first approach the Tirupati court, which had passed the original decree, and obtain an order substituting him as decree-holder.
On appeal, the high court, by its August 3, 2026 order, set aside the trial court order and permitted Samyamindra Thirtha Swami to replace Sudhindra Thirtha Swami in the execution proceedings.