Uttarakhand: Nainital HC asks Centre to submit reply to PIL filed

The Nainital High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre, Uttarakhand government and CEO of Char Dham Devasthanam Board to submit a reply in the plea challenging the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019. The court has sought to submit the reply within three weeks. 

The matter was heard today by the bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Ramesh Chandra Khulbe. 

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Earlier on Monday, Bhartiya Janta Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy filed Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Uttarakhand High Court opposing a newly framed law to govern Char Dham and 51 other temples of the state. The petitioner Subramanian Swamy said before the court that the CEO of the board has been appointed last night.

He requested the court to declare the act as 'unconstitutional'. The Act was passed in the Legislative assembly in December 2019. 

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Swamy, in his petition, stated, "The actions of the State government make a mockery of the constitutional principles and abuse of the legal process and statuary power and vitiated by malafide and extraneous considerations."

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The act is already being opposed by priests of the Char Dham and other temples stating that the government has conspired a story to take away their traditional rights. 

"Under the guise of the power vested in the legislature, a law, which permits an unlimited deprivation cannot indeed be said to be either reasonable restriction or a valid exercise of a power intended solely for the regulation of the administration of the properties of the temple. An abrogation of a right by law is not regulation by it. It is annihilation and not regulation," stated the PIL. 

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The petition also stated that under the cloak of sanction to administer under such legislation, Hindu temples and religious institutions are indiscriminately taken over permanently and are being virtually run like government establishments.

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Image Credits: PTI