Reservations in out sourcing services in resepct of Hindu Temples = As the Circulars and Government Orders relate to outsourcing employees in the Government organizations, and the temples and the Hindu religious institutions are not Government organizations, they cannot be brought under the purview of the Andhra Pradesh Corporation for Outsourced Services.= held that the Circulars and Government Orders issued by the Government, as mentioned above, must be interpreted to mean that the recruitment of outsourced employees for Hindu Temples and Hindu religious institutions cannot be done through APCOS and the rule of reservation in its entirety cannot be applied to recruitment of such outsourced employees. However, the said rule of reservation shall continue to apply even where such recruitment was done through other agencies to the extent of accommodating depressed classes of the society where members of such classes of society profess the Hindu faith.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI

***

W.P.No.6821 of 2021

Between:

# Syama Prasad Mukherjee Gollapudi

 S/o. Late Radha Krishna Murthy,

 Occ: Advocate, R/o. LIG I H 228,

 APHB Colony, Tadepalligudem-534101

 West Godavari District, A.P.

… Petitioner

AND

$ 1. The State of Andhra Pradesh, rep. by its Secretary, General

 Administration Department, Secretariat, Velagapudi, Amaravathi,

 Guntur District.

 2. The Commissioner, Endowments Department, A.P., Gollapudi,

 Vijayawada, Krishna District.

 ... Respondents

Date of Judgment pronounced on : 29-07-2021

HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE R. RAGHUNANDAN RAO

1. Whether Reporters of Local newspapers : Yes/No

 May be allowed to see the judgments?

2. Whether the copies of judgment may be marked : Yes/No

 to Law Reporters/Journals:

3. Whether the Lordship wishes to see the fair copy : Yes/No

 Of the Judgment? 

 RRR,J.

W.P.No.6281 of 2021

2

*IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI

* HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE R. RAGHUNANDAN RAO

+ W.P.No.6281 of 2021

%Date: 29.07.2021

Between:

# Syama Prasad Mukherjee Gollapudi

 S/o. Late Radha Krishna Murthy,

 Occ: Advocate, R/o. LIG I H 228,

 APHB Colony, Tadepalligudem-534101

 West Godavari District, A.P.

… Petitioner

AND

$ 1. The State of Andhra Pradesh, rep. by its Secretary, General

 Administration Department, Secretariat, Velagapudi, Amaravathi,

 Guntur District.

 2. The Commissioner, Endowments Department, A.P., Gollapudi,

 Vijayawada, Krishna District.

 ... Respondents

! Counsel for petitioner : Sri V. Venugopala Rao

^Counsel for Respondents : G.P. for Endowments

<GIST :

>HEAD NOTE:

? Cases referred: 

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W.P.No.6281 of 2021

3

HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE R. RAGHUNANDAN RAO

W.P.No.6281 of 2021

ORDER:

The Government of Andhra Pradesh had been framing policy and

guidelines for recruitment of persons on outsourcing/contract basis from

time to time. By G.O.Ms.No.126 dated 18.10.2019, the Government

declared its policy of incorporating a dedicated corporation, which would

directly outsource manpower to various departments/organizations in the

State as per their requirement. Thereafter, G.O.Ms.No.136 dated

04.11.2019 was issued recording the fact that a company named Andhra

Pradesh Corporation for Outsourced Services (APCOS) had been

incorporated under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 with the objects

and purposes set out in the said G.O. The Government, in pursuance of

the policy announced, earlier, had issued a Circular Memo No.GAD01-

SUOMISC/31/2019-SU-I, dated 20.11.2019 laying down the following

guidelines to the said outsourcing corporation. Relevant para of the

Circular is as follows:

I) Removal of private outsourcing agencies/middle

men

II) Corruption free outsourcing placement

III) Implementation of 50% reservation for BCs, SCs,

STs and Minorities, and 50% reservation for

women

IV) Timely and full payment of remuneration, without

any undue cuts

V) Proper credit of EPF and ESI

2. Thereafter, the Government of A.P. had again issued circular

Memo.No.GAD01-SUOMISC/31/2019-SU-I, dated 21.07.2020. The

guidelines set out in this Circular are in continuation of the guidelines set 

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W.P.No.6281 of 2021

4

out in the earlier Circular dated 20.11.2019. This Circular was to apply to

the following organizations.

“All the Secretariat Departments, State Head of

Departments, PSUs/ Government aided Institutions /

Organizations / Universities / Societies / Autonomous

bodies / Semi-autonomous bodies, District level Offices,

etc., are requested to migrate their outsourced employees

to the APCOS, by 25-07-2020, duly following guidelines

issued in the reference (3) cited above.”

3. After issuance of these Government Orders and Circulars,

the 2nd respondent issued the impugned Memo No.K3/3676187/2020,

dated 29.07.2020 directing all the drawing and disbursement officers and

temple executive authorities to engage manpower and work on

outsourcing only through the A.P. Corporation for Outsourced Services

with a stipulation that this should be done strictly in accordance with the

procedure prescribed in the Circular dated 21.07.2020 without any

deviation and with immediate effect.

4. The petitioner, who claims to be a person, who is a strong

devotee of Tirumala and Dwaraka Tirumala temples, being aggrieved by

the said Circulars, has filed the present writ petition challenging the

Circular Memo dated 21.07.2020 of the 2nd respondent.

5. Sri V. Venugopala Rao, learned counsel appearing for the

petitioner assails the said Circulars on the following grounds.

a) The Government Orders and Circulars read together, stipulate

that the rule of reservation has to be applied in the course of appointment

of outsourced employees. This would mean that minorities belonging to

the religions other than Hinduism would have to be mandatorily appointed

as employees of the Hindu temples. 

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W.P.No.6281 of 2021

5

b) The provisions of Section 29(3) require the executive officers of

the Hindu temples to be Hindus only. Similarly, a reading of

Sections 13, 23 and 35 of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu

Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987 (for short ‘the Act’)

would also show that any person associating with the administration of

any Hindu temple, at any level, would require to be a Hindu as a nonHindu employee of a temple would not be in consonance with these

provisions, which require all functions and affairs of the temples to be

performed strictly in accordance with the Agamas and the practices and

conventions which have been laid down over a long period of time.

c) The Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions

and Endowments Office Holders and Servants Service Rules, 2000 issued

by way of G.O.Ms.No.888, Revenue (Endowments.I) dated 08.12.2000

stipulates, in Rule-3, that every office holder and servant of a religious

institution or endowment shall be a person professing the Hindu religion

and shall cease to hold the office when the person ceases to profess

Hindu religion.

6. Article 16(5) of the Constitution of India also provides that

while reservation can be made for certain sections of society, in relation to

public employment, the said provisions shall not affect the operation of

any law which provides that the incumbent of an office, in connection with

the affairs of any religious or denominational institution, should be a

person professing a particular religion or belonging to a particular

denomination.

7. A combined reading of these provisions would show that

application of reservation whereby the persons belonging to other

religions would have to be appointed as the office holders or servants of 

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W.P.No.6281 of 2021

6

the Hindu temples, is not permissible and even the framers of the

Constitution had considered this aspect and provided that the said

institutions would be exempted from the general rule of reservation.

8. The provisions of the Circulars and the Government Orders

are to the effect that the outsourcing employees, who are being appointed

to the Government organizations including the societies and autonomous

bodies would have to utilize the services of the outsourcing company and

also implement the rule of reservation in its entirety. This would not be

applicable to temples inasmuch as the said temples are not Government

organizations and at best the role of Government is that of a trustee of

the temples at the very best, and that of an appointing agency of such

trustees at the very least. In such circumstances, these Circulars and

Government Orders cannot apply to the outsourcing of employees by

temples and other religious institutions.

9. The 2nd respondent has filed a counter affidavit and the

learned Government pleader while reiterating the said averments in the

counter affidavit, submits that the writ petition is being filed on the

misplaced apprehension of the petitioner that the members of other

religions would be taken into the service of the Hindu religious

institutions. She submits that while the rule of reservation would be

applied, the same would be restricted only to the members of the Hindu

religion and the persons professing the other religion would not be

included in the rule of reservation. She further submits that the

apprehension raised by the petitioners in the writ petition that existing

outsourced employees would have to be retrenched or removed from

service is also misplaced as the exercise under the Circulars and the 

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W.P.No.6281 of 2021

7

Government Orders is to migrate all the existing outsourced employees

from private outsourcing agencies to the Government agency.

Consideration of the Court:

10. A reading of the Circulars and the Rules reveal that the

policy of the Government is, firstly, to bring all the outsourcing employees

engaged by the Government and organizations of the Government under

the control of one Corporation and consequently to ensure that the rule of

reservation in its entirety is applied wherever such outsourced employees

are being engaged by the Government or Governmental organizations.

The impugned Circular issued by the 2nd respondent is merely reiterating

and reaffirming the said policy and intention of the Government.

11. In view of the provisions of Sections 13, 23, 29 (3) and 35 of

the Act and Rule 3 of the A.P. Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions

and Endowments Office Holders and Servants Service Rules, 2000, the

employment of any person not professing the Hindu religion is prohibited

in any temple or religious institution. Under the rule of reservation, certain

sections of Hindus, upon conversion to another religion fall within the

category B-C and the category BC-E is reserved for the members of

another non-Hindu religion. The application of the rule of reservation in its

entirety would result in appointment of persons who profess religions

other than Hinduism to be brought in as employees/servants of temples in

Hindu Religious Institutions.

12. Article 16 of the Constitution of India is an enabling

provision for providing reservations for classes of persons, who have been

deprived of adequate reservation in the services of the State. However,

while enabling such progressive reservation, Article 16 (5) also caters to 

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W.P.No.6281 of 2021

8

the sentiments and beliefs relating to the persons following particular

religions and provides that nothing in Article 16 would affect the operation

of any law, which protects such beliefs and faith of persons following any

particular religion. This provision is not necessarily restricted to the

persons following the Hindu religion but is also applicable to any other

religion.

13. In the circumstances, in view of the conflict between the

provisions of the Endowments Act and the Rules as mentioned above and

the requirements of the rule of reservation, it would have to be held that

the rule of reservation in its entirety cannot be applied to religious

institutions or temples.

14. Coming to the second argument of Sri V. Venugopal Rao,

learned counsel for the petitioner, it must be remembered that the

temples and Hindu religious institutions are not Government

organizations. They are institutions set up on account of the belief and

faith of the persons professing the Hindu religion. They have nothing to

do with the secular functions of the State and are purely religious

organizations. The role of the State in such organizations, as provided

under the Endowments Act, 1987, is restricted to ensure that the secular

affairs of the temples and religious institutions are maintained properly.

This role of the State, which extends to the appointment of trustees and

supervision of the secular affairs of the institutions under the Endowments

Act, will not extend to a stage where the temples and Hindu religious

institutions become part of the State. Temples and other Hindu religious

establishments are neither Government nor organizations of the

Government for the purpose of the applicability of the aforesaid

Government Orders or Circulars. 

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W.P.No.6281 of 2021

9

15. As the Circulars and Government Orders relate to

outsourcing employees in the Government organizations, and the temples

and the Hindu religious institutions are not Government organizations,

they cannot be brought under the purview of the Andhra Pradesh

Corporation for Outsourced Services.

16. For all the aforesaid reasons, it must be held that the

Circulars and Government Orders issued by the Government, as

mentioned above, must be interpreted to mean that the recruitment of

outsourced employees for Hindu Temples and Hindu religious institutions

cannot be done through APCOS and the rule of reservation in its entirety

cannot be applied to recruitment of such outsourced employees. However,

the said rule of reservation shall continue to apply even where such

recruitment was done through other agencies to the extent of

accommodating depressed classes of the society where members of such

classes of society profess the Hindu faith.

17. Accordingly the writ petition is allowed and the impugned

Circular Memo No.K3/3676187/2020, dated 29.07.2020 is set aside. There

shall be no order as to costs. As a sequel, pending miscellaneous

petitions, if any, shall stand closed.

 ________________________

R. RAGHUNANDAN RAO, J

29th July, 2021

Js 

 RRR,J.

W.P.No.6281 of 2021

10

HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE R. RAGHUNANDAN RAO

W.P.Nos.6281 of 2021

29th July, 2021

Js