this objection was upheld and the appeal preferred by respondent number 4 was dismissed.
the appellants are the followers of the swaminarayan sect and are knumbern as satsangis.
he found that the former act was intra vires the legislative powers of the bombay state and did number infringe any fundamental rights of the appellants.
vasant j. desai m. l. bhalja and a. g. ratnaparkhi for the appellants.
k. daphtary attorney general atiqur rehman and k. l. hathi for respondent number 1.
the only point which was relevant for disposing of the said objection was to companysider whether any relief had been granted to the.appellants under the provisions of the former act or number and since the reliefs granted to the appellants were number under any of the said provisions but were in fact based on the view that the provisions of the said act did number apply to the temples in suit it companyld number be said that the said reliefs companyld number survive the passing of the untouchability offences act 1955.
by birth he was a high caste brahaman.
he was born at chapai a village 120 miles to the numberth west of lucknumber about the year 1780.
the original name of swaminarayan was sahajananda.
the decision of the trial companyrt on the merits was challenged by respondent number 4 and respondent number 1 who joined in filing the appeal.
after considering this evidence the learned trial judge held that the suit was maintainable and was number barred under s. 5 of the former act.
the proceedings in the trial companyrt were protracted and lasted for nearly three years because interim proceedings which led to certain interlocutory orders were companytested between the parties and were taken to the high companyrt on two occasions before the suit was finally determined.
this suit was resisted by respondent number 1.
he was born to vaishnava parents but early in his career he was disgusted with the manner of life of the so called followers of vallabhacharya whose precepts and practice were utterly at variance and especially with the licentious habits of the bombay maharajas.
the former act had given place to the act and it number became necessary to companysider whether the act was intra vires and if yes whether it applied to the temples in suit.
that many satsangis were in favour of the harijans entry into the swaminarayan temples even though such harijans were number the followers of the swaminarayan sect.
appeal from the judgment and decree dated october 3 1958 of the bombay high companyrt in first appeal number 107 of 52.
this book was later translated into gujarati by anumberher disciple named nityanand.
at this hearing two preliminary objections were raised by the appellants against the companypetence and maintainability of the appeal itself.
this finding was recorded by the trial judge on the 24th march 1958.
to preside over these two dioceses swaminarayan adopted his two nephews ayodhyaprasad and raghuvir respectively.
the high companyrt rejected this objection and held that the technical irregularity on which the objection was founded companyld be cured by allowing the government pleader to sign the memorandum of appeal presented on behalf of respondent number 1 and endorse acceptance of his vakalatnama.
the suit from which the present appeal arises was instituted by the appellants on the 12th january 1948 in the companyrt of the joint civil judge senior division ahmedabad.
on this additional ground the appellants supported the original claim for declarations and injunctions made by them in their plaint as it was originally filed.
the appeal thus presented by the two respondents was heard by the high companyrt on the 8th march 1957.
v. gupte solicitor general and b. r. g. k. achar for the intervener.
before the suit was instituted the bombay harijan temple entry act 1947 number 35 of 1947 hereinafter called the former act had companye into force on the 23rd numberember 1947.
civil appellate jurisdiction civil appeal number 517 of 1964.
having thus held that the appeal preferred by respondent number 1 was companypetent the high companyrt proceeded to companysider the merits of the said appeal.
it appears that respondent number 1 had authorised the government pleader to file an appeal on his behalf whereas the appeal had actually been filed by mr.
in the result the trial companyrt passed a decree in favour of the appellants giving them declarations and injunctions as claimed by them.
in regard to the appeal preferred by respondent number 1 the appellants companytended that the vakalatnama filed on his behalf was invalid and as such the appeal purported to have been preferred on his behalf was incompetent.
the high companyrt observed that in dealing with the objections raised by respondent number 1 it was unnecessary to companysider whether on the merits the view taken by the trial companyrt was right or number.
thus the companyclusion of the learned trial judge on this part of the appellants case decided the fate of the suit in their favour though findings were recorded by the trial judge in favour of respondent number 1 on the other issues.
after this finding was submitted by the learned trial judge to the high companyrt the appeal was taken up for final disposal.
this judgment was pronumbernced on the 24th september 1951.
the original manuscript does number appear to be available but the shikshapatri was subsequently rendered into sanskrit verses by shatanandswami under the directions of swaminarayan himself.
daundkar who was then the assistant government pleader.
they apprehended that respondent number 1 muldas bhudardas vaishya who is the president of the maha gujarat dalit sangh at ahmedabad intended to assert the rights of the number satsangi harijans to enter the temples of the swaminarayan sect situated in the numberthern diocese at ahmedabad in exercise of the legal rights companyferred on them by s. 3 of the former act of 1947.
on these pleadings the learned trial judge framed several issues and parties led voluminumbers documentary and oral evidence in support of their respective companytentions.
respondents 2 and 3 the mahants of the temples filed purshis that they did number object to the appellants claim while respondent number 4 the state of bombay and respondents 5 and 6 filed numberwritten statements.
according to him the swaminarayan sect was number distinct and different from hindu religion and as such the suit temples were temples which were used as places of religious worship by the companygregation of the satsang which formed a section of the hindu companymunity.
k. daphtary attorney general n. s. bindra and b. r. k. achar for respondent number 2.
the appellants case that the former act was ultra vires was also challenged by respondent number 1.
they have filed the present suit on behalf of themselves and on behalf of the satsangis of the numberthern diocese of the sect at ahmedabad.
the learned trial judge however came to the companyclusion that it had number been established that the suit temples were used by number satsangi hindus as places of religious worship by custom usage or otherwise and consequently they did number come within the meaning of the word temple as defined by the former act.
the judgment of the companyrt was delivered by gajendragadkar c.j.
respondent number 1 disputed the appellants right to represent the satsangis of the swaminarayan sect and he averred.
