Maheshwar moves HC against govt takeover of Raghunath temple

The chief caretaker of Raghunathji temple in Kullu today filed a petition in the Himachal Pradesh High Court challenging the state government's decision to take over the shrine.
Maintaining that the decision to take over the temple was "unconstitutional and arbitrary", Maheshwar Singh pleaded for the stay of the government notification during pendency of his petition.
The court will take up the matter on August 1.
In his petition, the Himachal Lokhit Party chief and former BJP leader contended that the 17th century temple was currently being managed by him, the descendant of the erstwhile royal family of Kullu, adding that it has been under his family's management since its establishment.

He described the temple as a "private" property and contended that the government could not bring it under the ambit of the Himachal Pradesh Religious and Charitable Endowment Act without initiating a proper inquiry and providing an opportunity to the petitioner to present his arguments.
Claiming that there has never been any complaint against him or his family regarding the management of the temple, Singh termed the government's action "discriminatory" and sought the notification to be set aside.

After the notification was issued on July 26, the Kullu Deputy Commissioner had given seven days to Singh to hand over the records of the temple located in Sultanpur Palace.

Opposition BJP had accused the state government of targeting Singh who had already made his plans to make a comeback to the party known.
Chief Minister Virbharda Singh and his son Vikramaditya, who is also the chief of Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress, have maintained that the temple had been taken over on public demand and it was not a private property anymore.
The government has clarified that the takeover would not have anyeffect on offering prayers and only the management, security andaccounts of income and expenditure would be handled by the temple trust.