The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India heard an SLP filed by the ‘sevayats’ of Shree Bankey Bihari Ji Mandir, challenging the proceedings before the Hon'ble Allahabad High Court, wherein the proposed plan to redevelop the temple area being deliberated upon without making the Goswamis a party to the case.
The Petitioners' submission is that the rights of the Goswamis, who have overseen the Mandir for centuries, are being violated without giving them a fair chance of being heard.
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The primary grievance of the Petitioners arises out of the fact that their impleadment applications have been kept pending since the first week of September by the High Court, while orders are being passed and reports are being called for pertaining to the affairs of the Mandir. The Petitioners aver that such an action by the High Court is violative of their Fundamental Rights under Articles 14, 21, 25 and 26 of the Constitution. Further, the Petitioners are relying on judgments of the Supreme Court in National Cooperative Bank Ltd. v. Ajay Kumar & Ors and Kasturi v Uyyamperumal & Ors to argue that they are necessary parties, and all proceedings undertaken without hearing them are a nullity.
The bench, led by Chief Justice of India, Dr. DY Chandrachud, along with Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala questioned the advocates for the Petitioners as to who their clients are and what the urgency is. Upon being told that the matter pertains to the usage of Rs 250 crores lying in the account of Shree Bankey Bihari Ji for the development plans, the Court appreciated the gravity of the matter and directed for it to be listed on 23.01.2023. The Petitioners were represented by Swarupama Chaturvedi, and Advocates Vidula Mehrotra, Utsav Saxena, Kaveesh Nair, Shubhankar Singh from Vardharma Chambers along with Saumya Kapoor and Gopi Nagar.
Background
In the ancient city of Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, more than 300 shops and houses have been adorned with black and red survey markers. A total of five acres of land will be developed around Thakur Shri Bankey Bihariji Maharaj Temple in Mathura district's Virindavan and all roads leading there will be widened. It is expected that the project will follow in the footsteps of the Rs 800 core corridor in Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and the Rs 856 crore Mahakal Lok corridor in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.
In Varanasi, more than 200 houses and shops were demolished to make way for the Vishwanath Dham project three years ago. After the Jharkhand government opened Shri Sammed Shikharji to tourists on 1 January 2023, the Jain community protested across the country. Since then, the decision has been stayed by the Centre.
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