{"id":193998,"date":"1883-08-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1883-08-07T18:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883"},"modified":"2014-09-06T15:24:50","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T09:54:50","slug":"karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883","title":{"rendered":"Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Madras High Court<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_citations\">Equivalent citations: (1883) ILR 7 Mad 91<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: Kindersley, M Ayyar<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<pre><\/pre>\n<p>JUDGMENT<\/p>\n<p> Kindersley and Muttusami Ayyar, JJ.<\/p>\n<p>1. The plaintiff and defendants in this suit are Vellalas; and the plaintiff stated that he and his ancestors had been enjoying, for more than 300 years, the honours of the Vellalas receiving sacred ashes, sandal, betel and nut, flowers, etc., before they were served out to others, on festival and other days at the seven devasthanams mentioned in the plaint; and that from time immemorial, the defendants 4 to 8 had never received the first honours. He therefore sued to establish his right to receive the above offerings or honours before others of the same caste in the said devasthanams, and for an injunction restraining the defendants from preventing his so receiving them.\n<\/p>\n<p>2. The District Munsif dismissed the suit on the ground that the claim was not of a civil nature; and, on appeal, his decision was confirmed by the District Court. The plaintiff makes this second appeal on the ground that the suit is maintainable in a Civil Court; and whether it is so or not is the only question for determination.\n<\/p>\n<p>3. If this had been a suit for an office, or to establish a right to which the plaintiff was entitled as a citizen, and as a member of the caste to which he belongs, he would, according to the decided cases, have had a right of suit. But, although, to give the appearance of commercial value, a price has been set upon the ashes, sandal, betel and nut, and flowers, yet it is admitted that the plaintiff would not be satisfied by a decree for the trifling market value of such articles; because, that which the plaintiff seeks is the honour and dignity, which, he says, has been enjoyed by him in succession to his ancestors, of receiving such offerings in the temples in question, and of receiving them before they are offered to any other members of the caste. It is really a question of precedence on the occasions on which such offerings are received by the caste. The commercial value of the offerings would be the same, if the plaintiff received them after other members of the caste; but he claims the honour of being the first to receive them. It is not a suit for an office or for a money value, but for an honour.\n<\/p>\n<p>4. We are not aware of any case in which it has been decided that a suit will lie for a mere honour or dignity not conferred by the Queen; and it has been doubted in the several cases. In a Bombay case, Sangapa v. Gungapa I.L.R. 2 Bom. 476, it was decided that a suit would not lie for a mere dignity unconnected with any fees, profits, or emoluments, and, in that decision, the learned Chief Justice referred to Sri Sankar Bharti Swami v. Sidha Lingaya Charanti see I.L.R. 2 Bom. 473, in which the same point had been determined.\n<\/p>\n<p>5. Therefore, we cannot say that the Courts below were wrong in dismissing the suit on the ground that it was not of a civil nature. We dismiss this second appeal with costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Madras High Court Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883 Equivalent citations: (1883) ILR 7 Mad 91 Bench: Kindersley, M Ayyar JUDGMENT Kindersley and Muttusami Ayyar, JJ. 1. The plaintiff and defendants in this suit are Vellalas; and the plaintiff stated that he and his ancestors had been enjoying, for more than [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-court","category-madras-high-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"1883-08-07T18:06:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-06T09:54:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Legal India Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@legaliadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Legal_india\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Legal India Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Legal India Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea\"},\"headline\":\"Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883\",\"datePublished\":\"1883-08-07T18:06:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-06T09:54:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883\"},\"wordCount\":544,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"High Court\",\"Madras High Court\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883\",\"name\":\"Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"1883-08-07T18:06:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-06T09:54:50+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/\",\"name\":\"Free Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India\",\"description\":\"Search and read the latest judgements, orders, and rulings from the Supreme Court of India and all High Courts. A comprehensive database for lawyers, advocates, and law students.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"Free judgements of Supreme Court & High Court of India | Legal India\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India\",\"alternateName\":\"Legal India\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/legal-india-icon.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/legal-india-icon.jpg\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/LegalindiaCom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/Legal_india\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea\",\"name\":\"Legal India Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Legal India Admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/legaliadmin\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/author\\\/legal-india-admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","og_url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883","og_site_name":"Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/","article_published_time":"1883-08-07T18:06:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-09-06T09:54:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":512,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Legal India Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@legaliadmin","twitter_site":"@Legal_india","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Legal India Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883"},"author":{"name":"Legal India Admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/person\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea"},"headline":"Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883","datePublished":"1883-08-07T18:06:40+00:00","dateModified":"2014-09-06T09:54:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883"},"wordCount":544,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization"},"articleSection":["High Court","Madras High Court"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883","name":"Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#website"},"datePublished":"1883-08-07T18:06:40+00:00","dateModified":"2014-09-06T09:54:50+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/karuppa-goundan-vs-kolanthayan-and-ors-on-8-august-1883#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Karuppa Goundan vs Kolanthayan And Ors. on 8 August, 1883"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/","name":"Free Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India","description":"Search and read the latest judgements, orders, and rulings from the Supreme Court of India and all High Courts. A comprehensive database for lawyers, advocates, and law students.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Free judgements of Supreme Court & High Court of India | Legal India","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization","name":"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India","alternateName":"Legal India","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Legal_india"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/person\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea","name":"Legal India Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Legal India Admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.legalindia.com","https:\/\/x.com\/legaliadmin"],"url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/author\/legal-india-admin"}]}},"modified_by":null,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193998\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}