Pained To See Temples Approaching Court For Dues From State Govt: Allahabad HC Summons Revenue Board Commissioner, Calls For Action From CM Yogi Adityanath

The Allahabad High Court has directed that the Commissioner/Secretary, Board of Revenue, Uttar Pradesh be present in Court and explain why the annuity of the Thakur Rangji Maharaj Virajman Mandir, Vrindavan and 8 other temples in Vrindavan has been withheld for the last four years.

“This Court is pained to note that temples and trusts have to knock the doors of the Court for getting their dues released from the State Government, which should have automatically flowed from the Treasury of the State into the account of temple. It is an annual feature and the officer concerned should have made the necessary arrangement for releasing the annuity of the temple in question,” observed Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal.

The Court also directed for the matter to be placed before CM Yogi Adityanath for appropriate action.

Petitioner temple, Thakur Rangji Maharaj Virajman Mandir, Vrindavan, approached the High Court seeking the release of its annuity, as determined under Section 99 of U.P. Zamindari Abolition & Land Reforms Act, 1950, which had been withheld for the last four years by District Magistrate, Mathura and Senior Treasury Officer, Mathura.

Devansh Misra, counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner, brought on record documents showing that due to permission not being granted by the Board of Revenue, an annuity amounting to Rs. 9,12,507/- for nine temples has been withheld.

On the earlier hearing, the Court had directed the Commissioner/Secretary, Board of Revenue, Uttar Pradesh to file his personal affidavit explaining the reasons for not granting permission for the release of the annuity.

The Court was surprised to see that the reasons given for withholding the annuity of 9 temples were paucity of funds. The Court observed that the funds should have directly flown from the Government to the temples without the temples having to approach the Court.

“In this modern age of technology, once the financial year begins the State should automatically transfer the amount into the account of the temple. Letter written by the District Magistrate, Mathura to the Special Secretary, Government of U.P. at Lucknow is an indicator to the effect that the official sitting at Lucknow do not care for the release of annuities to the trusts and temples.”

Noting that no serious efforts were being made to get the necessary budget sanctioned from the Government, the Court directed that the Commissioner/Secretary, Board of Revenue, Uttar Pradesh be present before the Court on the next day fixed.

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