Entry of VIPs in Mahakal temple's sanctum sanctorum solely at discretion of administration: MP HC

Indore: The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has said that granting permission to VIPs to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain is solely at the discretion of the administration.

The HC refused to interfere in the matter and said the definition of 'VIP' has not been given in any law.

A bench of Justices Vivek Rusia and Binod Kumar Dwivedi made the remark while dismissing the PIL of Indore resident Darpan Awasthi.

The grievance of the petitioner is that the certain so-called VIPs are getting the facility of offering water to the deity inside the garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) of the Mahakaleshwar temple, whereas common people are not allowed entry inside. Therefore, there is a discrimination and arbitrary action by the administrator of Mahakaleshwar temple.

Dismissing the petition on August 28, the high court said, "The petitioner has produced the minutes of the Managing Committee of Mahakaleshwar Mandir, which show that there is no specific prohibition in respect of entering into the garbhagriha."

"The VIPs can enter in the garbhagriha with the permission of Collector and Administrator of Management Committee of Mahakaleshwar Mandir. Therefore, who is VIP in the opinion of Collector an Administrator of Mahakaleshwar cannot be decided in a writ petition, which is purely a discretion of the competent authority," it said.

"On a particular day, looking at the status of the person, the collector shall be the competent authority to treat him VIP for the purpose of offering water to the deity. There is no permanent list or protocol published by the Managing Committee of the VIPs. Hence, the writ Court cannot decide as to who is VIP amongst the persons visiting Mahakaleshwar Temple on a particular day," it said.

The "VIP" has not been defined in any of the statutory Acts or rules, hence any person who is given permission by the competent authority to enter the garbhagriha may be treated as VIP on a particular day and time schedule. This is the system applicable in all the religious places in India, it added.

The petitioner appears to be a personally aggrieved person, hence, writ petition at the instance of petitioner is not maintainable, the HC noted.

Ujjain, about 50 km from Indore, is a major centre of religious tourism. A large number of devotees visit the Mahakaleshwar temple, one of the 12 jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva.