The Madras High Court on Monday directed authorities of major temples in Tamil Nadu to ensure that devotees who pay a special entry fee as well as those who enter for free get to worship the deity from the same distance, The New Indian Express reported. The verdict is based on a Public Interest Litigation filed by the Indic Collective Trust.

The trust had sought to abolish the system of granting advantages to those who stand in the “paid darshan queue” at the Sri Andal temple in Srivilliputtur, Ekambaranathar temple in Kanchipuram and Oppiliappan temple in Thirunageswaram in Tamil Nadu.

Managing Trustee Aravindalochanan said that when he visited the three temples, he found that they provide special privileges to devotees who pay by allowing them quicker darshan closer to the idol and for a longer duration. “Money cannot be the basis for creating differentiation among equals,” Aravindalochanan said in the petition.