The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Will Supreme Court stay stop Parivar’s Datta Jayanti plans?

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Will Supreme Court stay stop Parivar’s Datta Jayanti plans?

Bageshree S.

BJP MLA says the order is applicable only within 200 metres of the shrine
Komu Souharda Vedike says it covers the entire Bababudangiri area

Bangalore: The Supreme Court’s stay on the Bababudangiri case earlier this week gains special significance in the light of Datta Jayanti and related celebrations Sangh Parivar organisations propose to hold from December 10 to 12 at the hill shrine in Chikmagalur district.

The Supreme Court has put aside the Divisional Bench order of the Karnataka High Court and said that status quo should to be maintained at the place “in terms of the order of February 25, 1989, passed by the Commissioner for Religious and Charitable Endowments in Karnataka.” The 1989 order of the Endowment Commissioner, significantly, had codified the rituals upholding the Sufi religious practices in contrast to the demands made by the Hindutva organisations.

The stay has comes just as Bajrang Dal and other Hindutva organisations are getting set for celebrations, including homas, havanas and idol installation, and were expecting a huge congregation of people.

How the district administration and the organisations would implement the order of the Supreme Court and whether the Parivar will tone down their plans for the event remains to be seen.

It may be recalled that a single judge Bench of the Karnataka High Court, in its order on February 14, 2007, quashed the 1989 order of Commissioner for Religious and Charitable Endowments and directed them to hold a fresh public inquiry and codify rituals.

The order was challenged by the Karnataka Government. However, a Divisional Bench of the High Court did not find any reason to stay the single bench order but asked the Endowment Commissioner to go ahead with the public enquiry. This order was challenged by the Karnataka Komu Sauharda Vedike and others in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has now stayed the Division Bench Order and said that 1989 order will prevail for the time being.

C.T. Ravi, BJP MLA from Chikmagalur and one of the leaders fighting for making it a completely Hindu shrine, told The Hindu that the order would have little impact on their plans because “it is applicable to an area within 200 metres of the premises of the shrine”.

K.L. Ashok, State secretary of Komu Sauharda Vedike, however, said that the judgment applied to the Bababudangiri area, including even Manikyadhara, 3 km away from the shrine.

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