Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot on Thursday refused to approve the amendments to the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997, that was cleared in the recently-concluded budget session, reported The Hindu.

On February 29, the Assembly passed the 2024 Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Amendment Bill, which mandated a 5% income tax on temples with revenue between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore and a 10% tax on those with revenue exceeding Rs 1 crore.

Gehlot on Thursday returned the bill and asked the Congress government if it had formed any similar legislation to include other religious bodies, reported The Hindu.

“It is asked whether the government has conceptualised any legislation to encompass other religious bodies like Bababudangiri Datta Peetha and one more such religious place, where two communities worship, in a similar fashion,” Muzrai Minister Ramalinga Reddy told reporters.

The Bill proposes a Common Pool Fund under the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Department for aiding religious activities in the state.

Reddy had said that the amendments would provide several facilities to temples, including insurance cover and death relief fund for temple caretakers, and scholarships to children from families of around 40,000 priests and other employees.

When the Bill was proposed, the Bharatiya Janata Party accused the Congress government of implementing “anti-Hindu” policies. It accused the government of stealing from rich temples of the state.

“Through the Hindu Religious Endowments amendment act, it [the Congress government] is trying to siphon off donations as well as offerings from Hindu temples and religious institutions in order to fill its empty coffers,” BJP’s Karnataka chief Vijayendra Yediyurappa had alleged in a social media post.