DHIRENDRA MANHARBHAI Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) "nathdwara" a small town but historically significant temple town in Rajasthan enjoys devotional prominence amongst the followers of Lord Krishna the world over and houses the unique 12th Century Idol of Shreenathji.

(2.) THE petitioners - devotees of the temple by way of instant Public Interest Litigation have voiced grievance against the present management in the matter of arrangement of 'darshan' and distribution of 'prasad'. THE petitioners have also sought direction commanding the respondent No. 2 - Goswami Shri Rakeshji Maharaj to ensure the public and statutory duty. This Court by order dated 22. 11. 2004 directed the respondent - Temple Board to prepare a detailed plan of the temple and town development and also the time bound action plan to redress the grievance of the devotees. It was brought to the notice of this Court that the entire temple is being managed from Bombay as the respondent No. 2 resides and holds all the meetings at Bombay itself. Thus, a direction was given to hold at least one meeting of the Board at Nathdwara within a period of three months. A further direction was given to the respondent No. 2 - Goswami Shri Rakeshji Maharaj to positively attend the meeting. Pursuant to the order of this Court, a meeting was convened on 25. 12. 2004. THE trouble which the trustees took of visiting Nathdwara in order to comply with the order of this Court proved of immense utility. THE Temple Board having realized the need for expansion of the facilities, infrastructure and requirement of th pilgrims prepared a plan and submitted before this Court for approval. THE claim of the Temple Board is that Nathdwara Temple Board will impart each visitor with comfort, convenience and luxury. It is also claimed that it will leave behind a legacy of beauty and piece for generations to come. THE plan was approved with certain modifications by a detailed order of this Court dated 6th May, 2005, reported in 2005 (4) RLW 2700 (Dhirendra Manharbhai (Shri) & Anr. Vs. State & Anr. ).

(3.) AS far as the properties of the Temple Board are concerned, the demolition of the Temple Board premises has been completed. There are few properties of the Temple Board which were in possession of the tenants which are being vacated. Phase II plans also included four number of private properties with an area of 35000 square feet. The land acquisition proceedings were initiated by the State Government resulting in declaration being issued in the month of March, 2006. The possession of the properties under acquisition, other than those where compromise has been arrived at, has been taken over. Out of these properties, the property belonging to Mukund Raiji Mandan has been dismantled and the property belonging to Sheelu Baba and others is also in the process of demolition while protecting the private temples existing on the site. Demolition of other two properties will be undertaken very shortly after getting the possession. For remaining two properties under acquisition belonging to Shri Krishna Kantji Pandya and Shri Vallabh Dasji Sanchihar, settlement has been arrived at and the possession of the properties will be handed over to the Temple Board very shortly. It is expected that the dismantling of old constructions in second phase are likely to be completed by May, 2007. GIRIRAJ PARVAT PARIKRIMA :