SC issues notices to Trimbakeshwar Sansthan Trust, Maharashtra govt

Satya Prakash

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 18

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to Maharashtra Government and Tribakeshwar Sansthan Trust on a Public Interest Litigation highlighting poor maintenance of Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple at Nasik—one of the 12 ‘jyotirlingas’.

At present there are nine trustees who look after the affairs of the temple. The PIL also demanded that the number of trustees be increased and two women included in it.

A Vacation Bench headed by Justice S Abdul Nazeer asked the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner, Trimbakeshwar Sansthan Trust and Trimbakeshwar Municipal Council to respond to the PIL and posted it for hearing in July when the court reopens after summer vacation.

Alleging that the temple was poorly maintained, the PIL filed by Lalita S Shinde of Mumbai sought immediate directions from the court to streamline things at the famous Trimbakeshwar Shiva temple thronged by thousands of devotees on a daily basis.

She sought modification in scheme of management of Trimbakeshwar Sansthan Trust keeping in view its significance as an ancient temple and cultural heritage.

The nine-member trust is headed by a civil judge nominated by local district judge who is an ex-officio trustee. The petitioner demanded that the number of trustees be raised to 11 in which six be taken from the general public and two seats be reserved for women.

The PIL also wanted the district judge to be replaced by the district collector as the latter would be in a better position to be more involved in the activities of the trust.

The PIL on Trimbakeshwar Temple comes days after the top court issued a series of directions to check alleged malpractices and mismanagement and prevent ‘exploitation’ of devotees by ‘sevaks’ at the famous Shri Jagannath Temple at Puri in Odisha, ahead of the July 14 Rath Yatra.

It had directed the Odisha Government to constitute forthwith a Committee to study the management schemes in other important shrines such as Vaishno Devi, Somnath Temple, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Tirupati Temple, Dharamsthala (Karnataka) Temple and submit an interim report by June 30 suggesting such changes as may be necessary.

Noting that these issues may be common to various other important shrines, the top court had directed the Centre to constitute a committee to collect information on other such shrines so that the management practices therein can be reviewed for the benefit of all visitors, wherever necessary.