J&K and Ladakh High Court directs DC to take over management of Srinagar temple

Our Correspondent

Srinagar, August 14

The J&K and Ladakh High Court has directed the Srinagar Deputy Commissioner to take over management of Raghunath Ji Temple in the Barzalla locality of the city along with its properties spread over 159-kanal land.

In an order, the court has also directed the DC to manage the temple and its properties either himself or through a committee of officers of the revenue and other departments directly responsible to him.

It also said the committee shall “put the properties of the temple to beneficial use and the usufructs and profits derived out of such properties shall only be used for maintenance of the temple and for other charitable and religious purposes.”

“The committee shall open up a bank account in the name of the temple to be operated through the Deputy Commissioner, so that all monies and profits received from the landed and other property of the temple are accounted for,” the order said.

The court order, issued on Tuesday, has come following a plea that challenged the order of the Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir issued on April 23, 2021, which directed that the “entries made in the revenue record of land measuring 159 kanals 10 marlas in Estate Barzulla be expunged and handed over to temple management. The petitioners claimed tenancy right on a portion of land. Former J&K Bar Association President Mian Qayoom, who is currently in jail, is among the petitioners in the case.

The court order has said that “henceforth there shall be no mutation attested in the name of any Mahant or his disciple and the properties shall be in the name of temple under the management of district administration and shall be so reflected in the revenue record.”

The high court also ordered the removal of all illegal structures and directed the DM to seize another temple property of Baba Dharam Dass in the Barbar Shah area of Srinagar city.

The respondent, told the court that land measuring more than 159 kanals is recorded under the ownership of Raghunathji Temple, Barzulla, through Mahant Baba Girdhari Das chella Hardev Das Bairagi. It said subsequent to Mahant Girdhari Das’ demise in 1971, and following the demise of his successor Mahant Arjun Das in 1989, and “thereafter there was militancy in the Kashmir Valley.”

“The temple was damaged by the miscreants and the land vested in the deity was encroached upon by the locals. Constructions were raised by them including the petitioners taking undue advantage of their key position in the self-styled “Tehreek,” the respondent told the court.