ARTICLE 26 – Freedom to Manage Religious Affairs

🟥 ARTICLE 26 – Freedom to Manage Religious Affairs 🧠 What is it? Article 26 gives collective religious freedom — not to individuals like Article 25, but to religious groups (called denominations ). ⚖️ Text of Article 26 Subject to public order, morality, and health , every religious denomination shall have the right to: a) Establish and maintain religious institutions b) Manage its own affairs in matters of religion c) Own and acquire property (movable/immovable) d) Administer such property according to law ✅ Simple Meaning of Key Terms: 🔸 Religious denomination = A group within a religion that has its own: Beliefs Customs Followers Identity 📌 Examples: Shaivites , Vaishnavites in Hinduism Sunni , Shia in Islam Catholics , Protestants in Christianity Lingayats , Ramanandis , Aurobindo Ashram , etc. 🔸Who gets this right? 👉 Every religious denomination or a section of it. What is a Religious Denomination? (As defined by the Supreme Court in SP Mittal case ) A religious denomination must have: Feature Meaning Comm…