NEW DELHI: Expressing unhappiness over allowing paid ‘special pujas’ in temples, disrupting the “resting time” of the deity, the Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the authorities on a plea challenging changes in ‘darshan’ timings and temple practices at Bankey Bihari Ji temple in Vrindavan.
Issuing a notice to the SC-appointed temple management committee and the Uttar Pradesh government, the three-judge bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pamcholi, listed the matter for further consideration in the first week of January, 2026.
The SC also took into record the submissions of senior advocate Shyam Divan and lawyer Tanvi Dubey on the same . The dispute arose against the backdrop of the Uttar Pradesh Shri Bankey Bihari Ji Temple Trust Ordinance, 2025, which triggered a debate over governmental involvement in religious institutions, and their impact.