Almost every top temple in Tamil Nadu has 'free darshan' queue and payment queue, and as of now those in the latter get closer to the deity than their free darshan counterparts.

When this discrimination was challenged in a PIL filed by Indic Collective Trust, the first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar said : "Irrespective of paid or unpaid devotees, darshan of the deity shall be provided from the same distance to all."

Cut temple queue for a fee, if you want, but devotees in paid as well as unpaid queues must have darshan of the deity from same distance, the Madras high court has said.

It means, those paying for quick darshan of deities in temples can reach faster, but not nearer the idol than others merely because they come in payment queue.

Asserting that the present practice followed in almost all the temples is unfortunate, the petitioner said : "By providing special privileges to worship the deity from a shorter distance in comparison to others, opportunity to pray for a longer duration to paid devotees, the fundamental rights assured under Article 14 (right to equality) and Article 25 (right to practice any religion) of the Constitution of unpaid devotees visiting the temples are violated."

The petitioner wanted the court to direct the Hindu religious and charitable endowments (HR&CE) department to abolish the practice of offering 'better and closer' darshan to paid devotees at Srivilliputhur Sri Andal temple, Arulmighu Ekambaranathar temple at Kancheepuram and Arulmigu Oppiliappan temple at Thanjavur.