Almighty as Litigant : Ram Janmabhoomi Case and the Concept of juristic personhood of temple deities in India

Abstract

Faith and political machination surrounding Ram Janmabhoomi / Babri Masjid issue triggered probably the biggest mass movement in Post-Colonial India, leading to a massive upheaval in the contemporary society and politics, that had been analysed in detail. But the jurisprudence involved in the case, which was finally settled by the Apex Court attracted little scholarly attention so far. In this essay I would analyse how the doctrine of ‘juristic personhood’ came to be imposed on temple deities, as well as philosophical foundation and contestations about this interesting, but little understood, seldom analysed phenomena