Who is Hindu???

 Yagya Purush v. Maluk Das, (1966) 1 SCR 357 (India).

The facts and judgment of the case are as follows:

The appellants, who were the followers of the Swaminarayan sect, filed a suit to claim that their temples were not open to Harijans (Dalits), as they professed a different religion from Hinduism.

The respondent, who was the president of the Maha Gujarat Dalit Sangh, challenged this claim and asserted the rights of Harijans to enter the Swaminarayan temples under the Bombay Hindu Places of Public Worship (Entry Authorisation) Act, 1956.

The trial court decreed the suit in favour of the appellants, but the High Court reversed the decision and dismissed the suit.

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s judgment and held that the Swaminarayan sect was not a separate religion, but a reformist movement within Hinduism, and that its temples were subject to the 1956 Act.

The Supreme Court also upheld the constitutional validity of the 1956 Act, which aimed to eradicate the practice of untouchability and promote social justice.

The Supreme Court relied on the works of various scholars and writers on Hindu religion and philosophy, and observed that Hindu religion was not tied to any definite set of philosophic concepts, but was a broad and inclusive faith that accommodated diverse views and practices.

The Supreme Court also examined the basic tenets of the Swaminarayan sect and found that they were in harmony with the fundamental notions of Hindu religion and its philosophy, and that the sect did not claim to be a separate religion from Hinduism.

The Supreme Court concluded that the Swaminarayan sect was a part of the great Hindu family, and that its followers were Hindus in the constitutional sense of the term.