The Supreme Court on Friday reiterated that temple funds are the property of the deity and cannot be diverted for the sustenance of cooperative banks. A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi was considering petitions filed by certain Kerala-based cooperative banks challenging a Kerala High Court directive requiring them to return deposits belonging to the Thirunelly Temple Devaswom.

During the proceedings, the bench questioned the very challenge to the High Court’s order.

“You want to utilise temple funds to revive a struggling bank? What is wrong in directing that such money, instead of remaining in a cooperative bank that is barely surviving, be placed with a financially stable nationalised bank to ensure better interest returns?” the CJI asked.

CJI Kant further emphasized that temple wealth is held in trust for the deity, and thus must be safeguarded and utilised only for temple-related objectives. “It cannot become a bailout mechanism for cooperative banks,” he remarked.

Counsel for the banks contended that the High Court’s sudden direction to repay within two months created operational hurdles.

“You must build trust among depositors. If customers are unwilling to keep funds with you, that cannot become their problem,” CJI responded.

Justice Bagchi also noted that deposits should have been released immediately upon maturity. The counsel maintained there was no prior request for withdrawal and that the Devaswom had continuously renewed its fixed deposits. The issue, he argued, was merely the abrupt timeline, not the repayment itself.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court refused to interfere, dismissing the petitions while granting the banks liberty to request more time before the High Court.

The petitions were filed by Mananthawady Co-operative Urban Society Ltd. and Thirunelly Service Cooperative Bank Ltd., challenging an August judgment directing several cooperative banks — including Thirunelly Service Cooperative Bank Ltd., Susheela Gopalan Smaraka Vanitha Cooperative Society Ltd., Mananthawady Co-operative Rural Society Ltd., Mananthawady Co-operative Urban Society Ltd. and Wayanad Temple Employees Cooperative Society Ltd. — to close the Devaswom’s deposits and return the amounts within two months. The High Court was approached after repeated repayment requests by the Devaswom were ignored.

Cases:
THE THIRUNELLY SERVICE CO-OPERATIVE BANK LTD & ANR. v. SREE THIRUNELLY DEVASWOM & ORS., SLP(C) No. 34386/2025
THE MANANTHAWADY CO-OPERATIVE URBAN SOCIETY LTD. & ANR. v. RAVI ULLIYERI & ORS., Diary No. 64079-2025