NEW DELHI: The Goswami priests of the famous Thakur Banke Bihariji Maharaj Temple of Lord Krishna at Vrandavan in Mathura have knocked at the Supreme Court against the Allahabad High Court opening up the dispute over the temple settled back in 1939 through a court decree.
They have sought a stay on the High Court’s September 14, transferring the temple’s case of 1938 from the court of Civil Judge (Junior Division), Mathura to the court of Civil Judge (Junior Division) in the nearby Hathras town.
Their contention is that the High Court ignored the fact that the suit was already decreed on 31.03.1939, vesting powers of the administration for management of the temple in Mathura’s Munsif/Civil Judge and as such the latter exercises administrative powers and not judicial powers.
They sought an immediate stay on the High Court order passed on a petition by some members of the Goswami community and quashing it after hearing both sides.
They asserted in the petition that the High Court can not use Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CrPC) in a suit already decreed in 1939 by which the Court of Munsif/Civil Judge, Mathura, became “functus officio” after the Suit No 156 of 1938 was decreed on 31.03.1939.
The temple priests also took strength from a Supreme Court ruling on an appeal of 2001 that the Munsif/Civil Judge of Mathura is “not a civil court but only an authority under the scheme of administration.”
The petition says the High Court order has created a chaos in th holiday season when 50,000 to one lakh devotees throng the temple and there is no one to look after its day-to-day administration, which includes preparation of Bhog prasad for three prayers every day, security of the temple and who will control any emergencies that may occur.
It says there are certain vested interests which do not want the temple to be managed in a smooth manner and prevent the elected body from functioning by invoking the High Court jurisdiction which is not maintainable.
The petitioners say as per the custom of Ballabhi Sampradaya, they perform morning, forenoon and evening pujas in the temple as Goswamis of the community and they want the Apex Court to strike down the High Court ruling as violative of the principles of natural justice as a majority of the affected and interested people were not heard.
