SC agrees to hear plea to modify Shri Banke Bihari temple corridor verdict

New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea seeking the modification of its order approving the Uttar Pradesh government’s proposed redevelopment scheme for the Shri Banke Bihari temple in Mathura.

A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih took note of the submissions of senior advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, appearing for Mathura resident Devendra Nath Gooswami, and agreed to list the plea for hearing.

“We will list it,” the CJI said.

On May 15, the top court paved the way for the state government’s scheme to develop the temple corridor for the benefit of scores of devotees.

It then allowed the state government’s plea to utilise the temple funds only for the purchase of 5-acre land around the temple to create a holding area.

On May 19, Gooswami filed a plea and said the implementation of the proposed redevelopment project was practically unfeasible, and any attempt for redevelopment of the temple premises without the involvement and inputs of those who were historically and operationally associated with the temple’s functioning was likely to result in administrative chaos.

"Such redevelopment risks altering the essential religious and cultural character of the temple and its surrounding ecosystem, which holds deep historical and devotional significance," the petition claimed.

The petition filed by advocate Ashutosh Jha on Gooswami's behalf said his client was a "lineal descendant" of the temple’s founder Swami Hari Das Goswami and his family had been managing the affairs of the sacred temple for the last 500 years.

The petitioner said he was actively involved in managing the temple’s daily religious and administrative affairs.

The Supreme Court’s May 15 verdict modified the November 8, 2023, order of the Allahabad High Court on a PIL filed by the Uttar Pradesh government, which accepted the state’s ambitious scheme but refused to permit the state to utilise the temple funds. PTI MNR SJK SJK AMK AMK