A court in Jammu and Kashmir recently ordered a self-styled godman to pay ₹49,000 as compensation for filing a frivolous criminal complaint on allegations that Hindu rituals were not correctly performed at a temple, and sent him to 30 days jail after he refused to pay.
“This Court is left with no other option but to send the complainant Baba Sita Ram Dass to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of 30 days from today till 7th July, 2026, to be lodged at District Jail, Udhampur,” the order passed on June 8 by District Judicial Mobile Magistrate Rishabh Koushal said.
The judge clarified that he can avoid the prison time if he agrees to deposit the compensation he was earlier ordered to pay.
The Rajasthan-based godman had filed a complaint alleging that certain idols and Shivlings at a temple had not been installed in accordance with what he claimed were proper Hindu customs and rituals.
The court concluded that the complainant was trying to enforce his personal religious views upon others through the machinery of criminal justice. “Mere non-adherence to a particular mode of worship or ritual advocated by the complainant does not constitute a criminal offence,” it held.
The law does not recognise any individual’s personal interpretation of religious practices as binding on others merely because that individual claims religious authority or expertise, the court added.
The court rejected the godman’s explanation that he was trying to protect the Hindu religion, adding that Hinduism was neither weak nor fragile enough to require frivolous criminal litigation for its protection.
“The complainant cannot be allowed to impose his own religious diktats upon the others in a pluralistic society like India where the Constitution guarantees its citizens to profess, practice and propagate the religion according to their wishes subject to limitations of law which the complainant has failed to demonstrate,” the court stated.
He was ordered to pay ₹7,000 each to 7 temple committee members who contested the complaint, bringing the total compensation payable by the complainant to ₹49,000.
This landmark ruling affirms Hinduism’s strength and resilience, establishing that no individual can impose personal religious interpretations on others in India’s pluralistic society.
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