# Indore High Court ends 72-year temple dispute, deity declared owner 2026-08-26T03:34:30+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has declared deity Shree Ram the absolute owner of a temple in Khachrod, Ujjain district, settling a 72-year dispute over its management. Justice Vinay Saraf ruled on Tuesday that the deity holds title to the temple and all its movable and immovable properties, while the Revenue Department will continue as its manager through the Auqaf system. The judgment arises from a civil suit filed in 1954 by Ratandas, who claimed the temple followed Ramanand sect customs and sought control over its management. The State and the Maheshwari community had disputed his claims. The court recognised Ratandas as the duly appointed priest but declined his plea to bar the community from the temple, noting its members are devotees. The Supreme Court had remanded the case in 2020 after an earlier High Court judgment was set aside. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The judgment reaffirms the legal principle that a Hindu deity is a juristic person capable of owning property, a doctrine the Supreme Court confirmed in the 2019 Ram Janmabhoomi verdict. Here the court clarified the split between ownership and management: the deity holds title, but the Revenue Department continues as manager, a structure that avoids the power struggles that often follow temple disputes. For Khachrod's residents, the practical impact is limited, the Maheshwari community retains access as devotees, but the ruling settles a rancorous 72-year litigation. The Revenue Department now holds clear authority over appointments and property, ending the ambiguity that kept this case alive through two high court rounds and a Supreme Court remand. ## Coverage - freepressjournal.in Led with the court ruling and gave equal weight to all parties' claims in a straight facts-first structure This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Indore, Madhya Pradesh High Court, revenue department, Shree Ram Mandir, Ujjain Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/indore-high-court-ends-72-year-temple-dispute-deity-declared-owner/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/indore-high-court-ends-72-year-temple-dispute-deity-declared-owner/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/