Priests are not workmen under ID Act: HC

The Delhi high court on Monday ruled that a priest (pujari) in a temple can't be treated as a workman under the Industrial Disputes (ID) Act.

"It is clear that a pujari in a temple does not do any manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational, clerical or supervisory work," Justice Shiv Narayan Dhingra observed while setting aside an order passed by the Industrial Disputes Redressal Tribunal.

The court further noted that "Puja (worship) by a pujari is an application of his knowledge of religious hymns, bhajans and aartis, which he has to recite in the temple. This work can not be considered by any stretch of imagination a work specified in the ID Act."

The court, however, considered a chowkidar (security guard) as workman covered under the Act. A petition was filed by Sri Sai Bhakta Samaj in New Delhi challenging the Tribunal's order which had held in 2003 that the management of Sai Temple could not retire priest Shiv Charan Tripathi and security guard Durga Prasad at the age of 58.

It had also asked the management to pay compensation of Rs 20,000 to each of them, which was termed as 'illegal' by the high court.