HC asks Chairty Commissioner to hear plaint on 'darshan' fees

The Bombay High Court has asked the Charity Commissioner in Mumbai to look into a complaint filed by a trustee of Trimbakeshwar shrine in Nashik against the levy of Rs 200 as 'darshan fees'.
The Trimbakeshwar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and houses one of the 12 'jyotirlingas' in the country.
Lalita Shinde, a trustee of Trimbakeshwar shrine, had earlier complained to Bombay High Court in a letter that the trust, headed by a district judge, was charging Rs 200 per head as 'paid darshan fees' from devotees.
She said this charge was "discriminatory in nature" and should not be levied.

Shinde, in her complaint, also enclosed a letter from the Archaeological Survey of India addressed to chairman of Trimbakeshwar shrine saying that the temple in Nashik has been declared as a protected monument of national importance.
Hence, the charge of Rs 200 should not be levied as 'darshan fees' under Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act-1958, she said.

"We have requested the Trimbakeshwar Trust not to charge Rs 200 as 'paid darshan fees' as it is discriminatory, but is still being charged from devotees," Shinde told PTI.
The high court has forwarded the complaint of Shinde to the Charity Commissioner.

In a letter, dated January 24, 2017, written by registrar-judicial of public grievances cell of the high court, the HC has asked the office of Charity Commissioner in Mumbai to look into the matter.
The letter has asked the office of Charity Commissioner to hear Shinde's complaint and decide the matter expeditiously.