temple

The court said that the temple administration cannot claim any sovereignty or ownership over the temple idol.

"The proposed church would come up within a stone’s throw from the existing Mariyamman Temple. There are only a handful of Christian families. If a large church is proposed to be constructed in the vicinity of the Mariyamman Temple, mala fide intentions cannot be ruled out," the court observed.

The reader is duped into assuming that the accused most likely comes from an upper caste and has political influence.

The issue pertained to a long-running dispute that lasted more than a century, in which the appellants or defendants (Ogeppa, deceased) and the respondents or plaintiffs (Sahebgouda, deceased) made opposing assertions with regard to the ancestral pujari rights and the authority to carry out worship of Amogasidda, a saint who died 600 years ago.