The
Delhi High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on a man who listed Lord
Hanuman as a co-litigant in his plea involving a temple constructed on private
land.
"I
never thought that God would, one day, be a litigant before me. This appears,
however, thankfully, to be a case of divinity by proxy," Justice C Hari
Shankar stated in the 51-page judgment issued on Monday.
The court dismissed the petition filed by
31-year-old Ankit Mishra, who challenged a lower court's ruling confirming that
the temple was situated on private land owned by Suraj Malik. Mishra's plea
argued that the land had become a "public temple," thereby nullifying
Malik's ownership rights due to public worship there.
However, the court maintained that allowing
occasional public access to the temple did not alter its private nature. The
lower court's decision remained intact, affirming that the presence of a temple
did not undermine the landowner's rights.