Is a claim to the office of Head Priest of Dwarkadesh a suit of civil nature? Give reasons and also refer to case law, if any on the point.

Question: Is a claim to the office of Head Priest of Dwarkadesh a suit of civil nature? Give reasons and also refer to case law, if any on the point.

Find the answer to the mains question only on Legal Bites. [Is a claim to the office of Head Priest of Dwarkadesh a suit of civil nature? Give reasons and also refer to case law, if any on the point.]

Answer

The Supreme Court in the case of P.M.A Metropolitan v. M.M. Marthoma, 1995 AIR 2001, held that a suit is of civil nature if the question of the right to the office is involved, although the office is of religious nature. As a result of a catena of decisions, it is well established that a suit in which the principal or main question is related to the determination of a civil right and its enforcement and a matter which involves purely political, social, or religious question is not a suit of civil nature.

It is also well settled that a question relating to an office or property is a suit of a civil nature. The explanation I attached to Section 9 also makes it clear that a suit in which the right to property or office is contested is a suit of civil nature. There can be no office without duties attached to it.

The right to hold a certain office in a certain place at a certain season of the year confers a legal character. A hereditary priest, however, cannot compel his yajman to accept his service. Right to the office of a hereditary priest to which fees are attached is the property and a suit is maintainable

In the present problem, the suit involves the claim to the office of the head priest of Dwarkadhees, thus it is a suit of civil nature. 

If the principal question in a suit is of civil nature and the adjudication incidentally involves the determination relating to religious rites and ceremonies, it does not cease to be a suit of civil nature.

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