BENGALURU: The High Court on Thursday stayed the resolution passed by the managing committee of the historic Mahathobara Sri Mahalingeshwara Temple in Puttur, which had removed Ravish as 'Thantri', religious head of the temple.
The decision to replace Ravish with Karthik, a new thantri, was taken by the State government after a complaint that Ravish had contested, unsuccessfully, from a BJP seat in Kasargod Assembly Constituency, for the Kerala Assembly elections in 2016, was received.
Hearing the public interest litigation filed by Bhaskar Rai, a devotee of the temple from Pernaje in Puttur taluk, Dakshina Kannada district, a division bench of Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice P S Dinesh Kumar stayed the resolution passed by the managing committee of the temple.
When the division bench asked the reason for removing Ravish, the government advocate submitted that Ravish was identified with a political party.
The division bench, meanwhile, issued notices to the secretary, department of revenue and Muzrai, commissioner for Hindu religious and charitable endowment department, Mahathobara Sri Mahalingeshwara Temple and the Managing Committee of the temple and Karthik Thanthri.
The petitioner submitted that the decision of the managing committee dated March 21, 2017, was against the law and also customs of the temple. The annual jathra of the temple is scheduled to commence from April 10, 2017.
If the jathra is done according to the decision of the management committee of the temple, there will be deviation from the customs followed by the temple, religious feelings will be hurt, the petitioner had said.