DEHRADUN: A suspended employee of the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), accused of stealing devotees’ offerings from the Badrinath shrine, has approached the Uttarakhand High Court seeking relief.
The accused, Pramod Nautiyal, has challenged both his suspension order and the First Information Report (FIR) registered against him.
Hearing the petition, a single bench of Justice Alok Mehra directed the temple committee to clarify its position. The matter has been listed for the next hearing on July 16.
The controversy erupted after the BKTC received reports on July 2 alleging financial irregularities during the counting of ‘thali bhent’ (offerings placed in ceremonial plates) at the shrine. Following directions from the BKTC chairman, a departmental inquiry panel was constituted.
According to the panel’s preliminary report, Nautiyal allegedly siphoned off money from the counting area between 9 am and 9.30 am. Based on the initial findings, the committee placed him under immediate suspension.
Subsequently, Badrinath temple officer-in-charge Yudhveer Pushpwan lodged a written complaint, following which the police registered a case.
The alleged irregularity was first brought into the public domain by Bhairav Sena founder Sandeep Khatri. Khatri claimed he had received information suggesting that donations made by devotees at the shrine were being stolen. “There was information that offerings made by pilgrims at the Badrinath temple were being misappropriated,” he alleged.
As the charges triggered a political storm in the state, BKTC chairman Hemant Dwivedi formed a four-member inquiry committee. Amid mounting pressure, the state government also stepped in, setting up a separate three-member high-level panel to probe the allegations independently.
The temple committee is now expected to submit its response to the High Court, detailing the basis of the suspension and the action taken so far.