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Referring to the apex court’s 2014 order by which administration of 1,500-year-old Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram was taken out of control of Tamil Nadu government, a bench of Justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer said it will consider that verdict while deciding on the issue of administration of Jagannath temple in Puri.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked as to why should government officials manage religious places and temples in the country while taking note of the fact that several devotees visiting the Jagannath temple in Puri were being harassed. The bench observed this while hearing a plea which has highlighted difficulties faced by the devotees at Jagannath temple and their alleged harassment and exploitation by the ‘sevaks’ (staff).“It is a matter of perspective. I do not know why government officials should manage temples?” Justice Bobde observed during the hearing.
At the outset, senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, assisting the apex court as an amicus curiae in the case, said he has already filed the detailed report after his visit to the shrine. To this, the bench observed, "People (visiting the temple) are harassed due to several reasons.
The amicus had earlier told the court that one of the major issues at the temple was lack of proper crowd management and absence of queue system for devotees.
Odisha's counsel had said it was not easy to have a "typical queue system" for the devotees at the shrine, as its architecture was different.a report was given byPuri's District Judge earlier to the apex court which had raised the issue of alleged harassment of devotees by the 'sevaks' (staffs) of the temple. In July last year, the top court had directed the Jagannath temple management to consider allowing every visitor, irrespective of faith, to offer prayers to the deity. However, it had said that it would be subject to regulatory measures regarding dress code and giving an appropriate declaration. It had directed the Centre to constitute a committee to look into the issues raised by the district judge of Puri regarding alleged exploitation of devotees, abolishment of hereditary 'sevaks' and appointment of 'sevaks' in the temple.
Attorney general K KVenugopal also agreed with the view that there should be no state interference in management of temples. It is an issue that how can a government take up control of temples in a secular country.In July 2018, the top court had directed the Jagannath temple management to consider allowing every visitor, irrespective of faith, to offer prayers to the deity.However, it had said that it would be subject to regulatory measures regarding dress code and giving an appropriate declaration.It had directed the Centre to constitute a committee to look into the issues raised by the District Judge of Puri regarding alleged exploitation of devotees, abolishment of hereditary ‘sevaks’ and appointment of ‘sevaks’ in the temple.
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