LANDMARK CASE

Commissioner, Hindu Religious Endowments v. Sri Lakshmindra Thirtha Swamiar (Shirur Mutt)

AIR 1954 SC 282 · Supreme Court of India · Constitutional law

At a glance

Citation: AIR 1954 SC 282
Court: Supreme Court of India
Area of law: Constitutional law
In one line: Religion includes rituals and practices integral to it. Some provisions were struck down. This introduced the essential practices test.

1 Facts

A math challenged state control over its religious endowments.

2 Issue

What is protected as religion under Articles 25 and 26?

3 What the court decided

Religion includes rituals and practices integral to it. Some provisions were struck down. This introduced the essential practices test.

4 Why it matters

The origin of the essential religious practices doctrine.

5 Think about it

Should judges decide what is essential to a religion?

6 Analyse it yourself

Read the full judgment from an official source or a law database, then brief it in seven steps: facts, issues, arguments, decision, ratio, obiter and significance. Always check the citation before you rely on it.

7 More cases on Constitutional law

A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras AIR 1950 SC 27
ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (1976) 2 SCC 521
Air India v. Nergesh Meerza (1981) 4 SCC 335
Ajay Hasia v. Khalid Mujib Sehravardi (1981) 1 SCC 722
Anuj Garg v. Hotel Association of India (2008) 3 SCC 1
Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020) 3 SCC 637

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