KARWAR: In a major setback to Ramachandrapura Math, the Supreme Court has ordered it to cease the administration of the Gokarna Mahabaleshwara temple, which was given to it by the previous BJP government. The court has directed that a committee be constituted for management of the temple.
The twelve-year-old tussle between the temple priests, whose ancestors served Lord Mahabaleshwara for centuries, and the Ramachandrapura Math has now come to an end. The court directed the state government to take back the temple administration from the Math. It has directed that a committee be constituted under the aegis of former Supreme Court judge Justice BN Srikrishna as directed by the Karnataka High Court in 2019.
The order brought jubilation among the priests whose ancestors worshipped the deity since ages. They resorted to celebrations by bursting crackers and distributing sweets. "We are very happy with the judgement," said Rajagopal Addi, one of the priests and a petitioner.
The celebration witnessed the distribution of sweets and fruit juice on major streets of Gokarna including car street, Gokarna Temple pond and other streets.
The bench headed by the Chief Justice of India has directed the government to ensure that the temple is handed back to the government within 15 days and the committee be constituted immediately.
The background
After the previous BS Yeddyurappa government handed over the temple to the Math in 2008, the Shree Kshetra Gokarna Hita Rakshana Samithi moved the High Court challenging the handing over of the temple. The petitioners in their petition submitted that handing over the temple is illegal and is not in the interests of the public. They said the temple belongs to the public and the priests here are hereditary.
The matter dragged on for more than 10 years until the division bench comprising Justice B V Nagarathna and Justice Aravind quashed the government order handing over the temple to the Math. It directed the state government to constitute a committee with Justice Sri Krishna at the helm of it.
The Math had challenged it in the Supreme Court seeking to stay the division bench order. The three Judge Bench comprising Chief Justice Bible, Justice A S Bopanna and Justice Ramasubramanian quashed the plea and directed the authorities to hand over the temple administration to the committee.