The Supreme Court Friday remarked that temple funds “belong to the deity” and cannot be used to aid struggling cooperative banks.

The observation came from a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, as it dismissed special leave petitions (SLPs) filed by Kerala-based cooperative banks challenging a Kerala High Court direction to immediately return the fixed deposits of the Thirunelly Temple Devaswom.

Refusing to interfere with the Kerala High Court’s orders, the CJI Kant-led Bench remarked that the money collected from devotees must be “saved, protected and utilised only for the interests of the temple” and cannot become a “source of income or survival” for any cooperative bank.

“You want to use the temple money to save the bank?… Temple money, first

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