Overview

• A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma criticised the Uttar Pradesh government for intervening in a private litigation over Banke Bihari temple management.
• The Supreme Court directed the state to file the ordinance establishing the Shri Banke Bihari Ji Mandir Nyas Trust and an affidavit from the concerned principal secretary by July 29.
• This week the UP government formed an 18-member trust after the governor’s assent to oversee temple rituals, security arrangements and the Rs 500-crore corridor development plan.
• On May 15 the court approved use of temple funds to acquire five acres around the shrine for holding areas, parking, toilets and a corridor linking major Braj Teerth sites.
• Devendra Nath Goswami and other opponents warn that state takeover could erode the hereditary priesthood’s authority and alter the temple’s historic character.