SC refuses to entertain PIL on wages of priests, temple staff

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea seeking to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the wages and other benefits given to priests, ‘sevadars’ and temple staff in state-controlled temples.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said that it cannot entertain the petition under Article 32 of the Constitution and those aggrieved can directly approach the court.

The top court asked petitioner advocate Ashwini Upadhyay not to get into the affairs of priests as he may be unaware about the earnings of priests and ‘sevadars’ of temples.

Upadhyay said there are judgments of the Allahabad High Court and other high courts which call for reviewing the wages of priests of state-controlled temples to enable them to live a dignified life.

The bench refused to go into the petition and allowed Upadhyay to withdraw the petition with liberty to avail the remedy available under the law.

The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, sought directions to the Centre and states to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the remuneration and other benefits given to priests and temple staff in state-controlled temples.

“Petitioner also seeks a declaration that priests and temple staff are employees under Section 2(k) of the Code on Wages, 2019. Petitioner submits that once the State assumes the administrative, economic and financial control over temples, an employer-employee relationship arises and denial of dignified wages to priests and temple staff violates the right to livelihood guaranteed under Article 21,” it said.

Upadhyay said the cause of action accrued on April 4, when he went to Varanasi to attend a public programme and after performing ‘rudrabhishek’ in the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which is controlled by the state, he came to know that even the minimum wages to live with dignity are not given to the priests and temple staff.

“Recently, in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, priests and temple staff organised a large-scale protest demanding the minimum wages. Priests and temple staff are not getting even the minimum wage prescribed by the State for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. This is a systemic exploitation. The state is acting as a model employer through the endowments department, but violating the minimum wages Act and the directive principles of state policy (Article 43),” it said.

The plea further said the continued refusal to meet the minimum wages with the 2026 inflation-adjusted cost of living index had forced the petitioner to seek judicial intervention to prevent the further “marginalisation” of priests and temple staff.

Upadhyay further said the precarious nature of livelihood was starkly exposed on February 7, 2025, when a Tamil Nadu department issued a circular at the Dandayuthapani Swami Temple in Madurai, strictly prohibiting priests from accepting ‘dakshina’ in ‘aarti’ plates.