To maintain the secular character of the Indian polity, not only does the Constitution of India guarantee freedom of religion to individuals and groups, but it is also against the general policy of the Constitution of India that any money be paid out of the public funds for promoting or maintaining any particular religion. Accordingly, it is provided in the Constitution of India that no person shall be compelled to pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated in payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious denomination. This does not prohibit the State from enacting a law to incur expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious denomination, but by such law, no person can be compelled to pay any tax, the proceeds of which are to be so utilized. This, however, does not invalidate levy of a fee to provide some service. Thus, a fee can be levied on pilgrims to a religious fair to meet the expenses of the measures taken to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of the pilgrims. Such fee levied by a State will be valid because the object of such contribution is not to foster or preserve religion, but to control secular administration of religious institutions.

the object of a State Legislation is “to provide for the better administration and governance of certain Hindu religious endowments”, where ‘religious endowment’ means the property belonging to or given or endowed for the support of temples. the State Legislation vests the supervision of public temples in a statutory authority, i.e., ‘Commissioner of Hindu religious endowments’. For the purpose of meeting the expenses of the Commissioner and his staff, every Hindu temple in the State is required under provisions of the State Legislation, to pay an annual contribution at certain percentage of their annual income. in the given situation, which of the following statements is correct regarding the annual contribution provided under the State Legislation?