DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday issued showcause notice to the state government in the matter related to the reconstruction of 'Samadhi' of Adi Shankaracharya in Kedarnath.
Ajay Gautam, Delhi based activist who is best known for filing various public interest situations ranging from issues related to Kedaranath tragedy to endangered glaciers, said, "The honorable court issued the showcause notice against the state government and officials asking to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for disobeying the orders of the court."
In October 2018, the HC ordered the reconstruction to be completed within one year.
The HC on October 10, 2018, while treating a letter written by Gautam as a public interest litigation about non-maintenance of samadhi of Adi Shankracharya, which was swept away in the Kedarnath tragedy in June, 2013, had directed the State government to restore the samadhi of Adi Shankracharya "positively within a period of one year from today at Kedarnath".
Notably, the division bench of acting Chief Justice Rajiv Sharma and Manoj Kumar Tiwari had remarked in the order, "He (Adi Shankaracharya) retired to the Himalayas at the young age of 32 years and entered a cave near Kedarnath. Kedarnath is a Hindu pilgrimage site in the State of Uttarakhand. The Samadhi of Adi Shankaracharya was built near Kedarnath temple. Samadhi was also revered by the pilgrims visiting Kedarnath. Samadhi of Adi Shankracharya Ji swept away in the Kedarnath tragedy which took place in the month of June, 2013. Thereafter, it has not been repaired."
The court in its 2018 order had also directed the district administration of Rudraprayag where the 'Samadhi' is located at Kedarnath, to ensure that the local traditional hill architecture is taken into consideration while repairing/restoring the samadhi so that the architecture merges with the surrounding landscape.
"The District Administration is also directed to ensure that the local traditional hill architecture is taken into consideration while repairing/restoring the Samadhi of Adi Shankracharya Ji and also to ensure that the architecture merges with the surrounding landscape," the court ordered.