Uttarakhand High Court has held that the funds collected from general public for better management of temple cannot be allowed to be used for personal gains of the members of the temple administration. The petitioner being a public-spirited person filed a public interest litigation for constitution of a registered Society or trust for management of the Chitai Golu Devta Temple, at Almora.
Acting upon the PIL, the Division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan & Justice R.C. Khulbe observed that the Chitai Golu Devta temple is visited by thousands of devotees. The manner in which the non-religious affairs of the temple should be regulated, and a management committee should be constituted for the administration and development of the said temple, are all matters in the executive realm. The fact, however, remains that funds received by the temple, from the general public, cannot be permitted to be misappropriated by those administering the temple; as such funds are to be utilized primarily for the development of the temple itself, including for providing amenities to those who come to visit the temple in large numbers.
The petitioner in the writ petition alleged that the Mandir Samiti, constituted to look-after the affairs of the temple is neither registered nor has it any valid and legal status. The Mandir Samiti is being run by a few families of the area; funds are collected by the temple through donations from the public at large, and for marriages and other functions organized in the temple. Despite receipt of huge funds through donations, there is no registered society or trust for the management of the temple; and since the Mandir Samiti is utilizing the funds, received at the temple, for their personal use, and as the State Government is not taking any action in the matter, the petitioner had perforce to invoke the jurisdiction of Court.
Allowing the writ petition the High Court directed the Tourism Secretary, Uttarakhand to take a considered decision within four months for constitution of an independent Managing Committee for proper administration of the non-religious activities of the temple, and for proper utilization of the public funds, received by the temple, towards development and management of the temple itself, and for providing better amenities to the devotees who visit the temple.