On October 17, 2026 the Supreme Court has held that the State Government is a custodian and regulator of temple properties, not their owner, and cannot accept a gift of such property from a trustee, even when the transfer is intended to serve a public purpose.
Setting aside a Madras High Court judgment, a bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe declared void a gift deed through which a temporary trustee of Nagapalayam Mariamman-Ponnachiamman Temple in Tamil Nadu's Erode district had transferred 1 acre and 10 cents of temple land to the State Government for the construction of a Taluk Office.

Highlights of the Supreme Court’s judgment
The Court held that the gift violated Section 41 of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Act, 1959, which prohibits gifts of inam land granted for the support or maintenance of a religious institution.
“The State, acting through the Commissioner and other functionaries under the 1959 Act, is a custodian and regulator of temple properties, not their owner,” Justice Aradhe, who authored the judgment, observed.
“An acceptance of a gift of temple land by a Revenue functionary, however laudable the public purpose it is intended to serve, offends the object of the 1959 Act,” the Court added.
It observed that property dedicated to a deity ceases to belong to the donor and is held for the deity and the community of worshippers it is intended to serve.
“Every custodian holds it only in trust for the deity and the worshippers it serves,” the judgment stated.
A gift, being a transfer without consideration, cannot ordinarily be regarded as prudent management because it confers no corresponding benefit on the institution.
“A temple property is held for the deity and not for gratuitous disposal by whoever happens to hold the office of trustee, however well-intentioned,” the Court observed.
The Court further held that the State cannot escape its obligations as custodian merely because it is also the sovereign.
It further directed that decisions concerning religious and charitable institution properties must be guided by the interests and benefit of the institution, rather than the administrative convenience of the Government.
“The State, as custodian, cannot unilaterally usurp, nor permit any of its officers to usurp, the property of the religious/charitable institutions it is charged to protect,” the Court held.

Andhra Pradesh Encroachment of Temple lands
According to official figures reported by the state's Endowments Department, approximately 87,167 acres of Hindu temple land in Andhra Pradesh are currently recorded as encroached by private entities, illegal occupants, or unauthorized squatters—out of total temple holdings of around 4.67 lakh acres.   
The encroachments are primarily carried out by private individuals, local unauthorized occupants, or long-term leaseholders whose leases expired or became illegal, rather than the government itself acting as the direct encroacher.
The Andhra Pradesh government formalized provisions permitting long-term leases (such as 33-year leases under G.O. Ms No. 139 for eligible charitable or public-utility bodies), alongside specific industrial or infrastructure allotments (such as individual parcels designated for renewable energy or solar projects, typically ranging in blocks like 100 acres per specific arrangement).   

Letter to Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on May 28, 2020
GHHF has written several letters to Chief Ministers over the last 20 years requesting them not sell the land, give for long-range lease or use it for public use.The letter says: 
“If devotees donate land or gold ornaments, no government and not even legal system has any authority to dispose of them. It absolutely wrong to call Temple lands as Temple properties or assets. They are used only to serve the Hindu Temple needs. Only when the lands belonging to an individual are called Properties. Lands belonging to Hindu Temples are called Manyams and Kainkaryalu.
                What is manyam? It means the one that deserved to be respectful, honored, and deferential. When we say Manyasree Lakshmi, Padmavati, Anasuya etc.; we approach that lady with utmost respect. It is like a monument that needs to be protected. It should not be disrespected by disposing of the most respected lands. 
                What is Kainkaryam? It means once a land is donated it is considered Kainkaryam. It cannot be given back or disposed it off. It is permanently placed in the hands of the Gods and Goddesses. Nobody has any legal authority over this land.
                Hence these lands cannot be auctioned or cashed out to be deposited in the treasury. Not only they have to be protected, they need to be multiplied. In fact, any material objects donated by devotees should not be sold or cashed out. For example, many devotees donated many gold ornaments, diamonds, rubies, pearls etc.  If we have so many gold ornaments that are used for many years and that are unusable, we do not have authority to sell them. Since these are gold ornaments, you have the responsibility only to convert them into Gold bars and preserve until they can be used for decoration purposes.”

Letter written to Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu regarding Simhachalam Temple lands.
On July 30, 2015, GHHF has written a letter to the Chief Minster Chandrababu Niadu not alienate the Simhachalam Hindu Temple lands to prive business people with no proper announcements. 
“Global Hindu Heritage Foundation came to know about the plans alienate hundreds of Simhachalam Temples to a preferred Business people, we have written this letter addressed to Chief Minister, Honorable Sri N Chandrababu Naidu and sent to various Ministers and other officers challenging the plans. We sent this letter to various Officers related to the Endowment Department.
WE ARE VERY HAPPY TO REPORT THAT THE TEMPLE LANDS ARE NOT ALIENATED TO BUSINESSPEOPLE.
We talked to many officials in different departments and also Endowment Minister of AP.
We were informed that these officials and the Minister have rejected the plan to handover the Simhachalam lands to a group of Businesspeople. That is a great news.”
According to official figures reported by the state's Endowments Department, approximately 87,167 acres of Hindu temple land in Andhra Pradesh are currently recorded as encroached by private entities, illegal occupants, or unauthorized squatters—out of total temple holdings of around 4.67 lakh acres.
GHHF has written more than 100 letters to the State government officials opposing the sale of Temple land, encroachment of Temple lands, diverting Temple lands to social causes such as building houses for the poor, and allotting Temple lands to the TTD employees housing. 
GHHF is going to write a letter on October 20 asking Andhra Pradesh government to submit a detailed account of Temple lands, how many acres were sold, encroached, diverted to other government projects, leased for long term use and how they will recover the Temples lands that were used or disposed against Endowment Act.