Skip to main content.
Related sites:
Religion News Blog is a non-profit service providing academics, religion professionals and other researchers with religion & cult news
ReligionNewsBlog

Religion news articles about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues

Navigation:
Web religionnewsblog.com
Home | Site Menu | About RNB | RNB Store | Cult FAQ | Cult Experts | Apologetics Index | Cult Information Search Engine


Related

More news articles & news archive on Hinduism, Offbeat News


Advertisements *

Advertise on Religion News Blog Advertise Here *
Simple steps to financial health and a good credit score


Elsewhere

Some critics refer to the so-called 'Prosperity Gospel' as Blab It and Grab It


Hinduism, Offbeat News:

Hindu gods ordered to appear in court

Telegraph, UK
Dec. 8, 2007
Rahul Bedi in New Delhi
www.telegraph.co.uk
  • Article Tools  • Share This Story

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 20080 • Posted: Sunday December 9, 2007  

Click here... More articles on this topic: Hinduism, Offbeat News

An Indian judge has summoned two Hindu gods to help resolve a 20-year-old property dispute.

Sunil Kumar Singh has placed notices in newspapers in the coal mining town of Dhanbad, in the eastern state of Jharkhand, asking gods Ram and Hanuman to appear in his court next week to present their arguments.

“You failed to appear in court despite notices sent by a messenger and later through registered post. You are hereby directed to appear before the court personally,” Judge Singh’s notice stated.

The newspaper notices were published, in keeping with accepted Indian legal practice, after two summons dispatched to the plaintiff deities were returned because their addresses were “incomplete”.

The dispute is over ownership of a 1.4-acre plot in Dhanbad which adjoins a temple dedicated to Ram and another one dedicated to the monkey god Hanuman. Worshippers claim the land belongs to the gods but the priest, Manmohan Patnaik, insists that it is his.

Both sides went to court in 1987 and several years later the dispute was settled in the locals’ favour. But Mr Patnaik challenged the verdict in a “fast-track court” set up to cut the backlog of millions of property cases.

Bijan Rawani, a lawyer, said: “Since the land has been donated to the gods, it is necessary to make them a party to the case.”

Mr Patnaik’s plea is that the land was given to his grandfather by a local king.

Property disputes in which Hindu gods are deemed “legal entities” are not uncommon in India.

One of India’s most contentious disputes in nearby Ayodhya also involves a Ram temple, which was built over the god’s reputed birthplace before a Mughal emperor demolished it in the 16th century and replaced it with a mosque. In the early 1990s, Hindu zealots razed the mosque, triggering clashes in which more than 1,200 people, mostly Muslims, died.

The ownership dispute is still unresolved and the judge in the case is awaiting the deity’s attendance in court.



Religion News Blog RSS feed Subscribe: Religion News Blog RSS feed  |  Religion News Blog RSS feed Subscribe by topic: Hinduism, Offbeat News
more cult news articlemore religion news More articles about Hinduism, Offbeat News

Like this story?

Today's Most Popular Articles

Share this

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:




Article and Site Tools

» PermaLink to: Hindu gods ordered to appear in court
   Need a shorter link? You can remove everything after the final /
» More news articles + news archive on Hinduism, Offbeat News
» More religion and cult news

Subscribe (RSS / Email) [What is RSS?]
» RSS News Feed - All Topics: Religion News Blog RSS Feed
» RSS News Feed - Single Topic: Hinduism, Offbeat News
» Headlines by Email: Daily Religion News Blog Headlines

More Article Tools
• Bookmark / Tag: Del.icio.us
• Bookmark / Tag: Furl
Save this article
Email this article
Print this article [Temporarily out of order]

More Information
Books about Hinduism
Relevant books (and other goodies)

more religion news aboutmore Religion News Blog articles about

About Religion News Blog
Religion News Blog (RNB), published by Apologetics Index, highlights news items and other resources on world religions, cults, religious sects, alternative religions and related issues. RNB's non-profit news clipping service is used by - among others - Christian apologists, countercult professionals, anticult organizations, cult experts, teachers, religion professionals, reporters and other researchers.

Home
Latest Headlines
RSS news feed [?]
Headlines by Email
News Trackers
Free content for your site
About RNB
Privacy Policy
Contact RNB
Link to RNB
Advertise on RNB
Apologetics Index
Cult FAQ
Apologetics Search Engine
CounterCult Search Engine