Temple priests will run the management of the Kamakhya temple, not the Govt : Supreme Court

An important verdict by the Supreme Court

Guwahati (Assam) – The Supreme Court has passed a landmark judgement regarding the Kamakhya temple in Assam, one of the famous pilgrimage sites in India. The Court set aside the Guwahati High Court’s verdict regarding the Kamakhya temple and said that the priests of the temple will continue to manage the temple and not the Government.

1. In 2017, the Guwahati High Court ordered that the money donated by the devotees to the temple be deposited with the District Deputy Commissioner. This money will be used for the overall maintenance and management of the temple. The Court also ordered to opening of a bank account for this purpose.

2. A petition was filed in the Supreme Court against this judgment. The Supreme Court passed the aforementioned verdict on this. This will now enable the chief priests of the temple, from the Doloi community, to manage the maintenance work of the temple.

3. The Court made the affidavit of the Government of Assam as the prime basis for this judgement. The Government had told the Court that the Doloi community is managing the temple very well with the help of the local administration. This system can continue. We are also working to develop the Kamakhya temple on a large scale under the PM-DevINE (Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North Eastern Region) Scheme. Following this, the Supreme Court set aside the judgement of the Guwahati High Court.

Editorial Perspectives

• Based on this commendable verdict of the Supreme Court, efforts should be made to hand over the management of Hindu temples across the country to the devotees! Devout Hindu organisations should now strive to achieve this!
• Hindus feel that now the BJP Government at the Centre should take the initiative to hand over the thousands of Government-controlled temples to the devotees!