High Court took suo motu cognizance of the disturbances in Kainchi Dham temple. file photo
Jagran correspondent, Nainital. The case of disturbances in Kainchi Dham established by the famous Baba Neeb Karori Maharaj of Uttarakhand has reached the High Court. The division bench headed by Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta, while hearing the suo motu PIL, issued notice to the state government as well as DM Nainital, SDM Kainchi Dham, Temple Trust and directed them to file their reply within four weeks.
In the petition, the demand has been raised to keep the temple trust under limited government control on the lines of Jageshwar, Badri-Kedarnath temple committee. Deoradi Pant, village Basikhet, Pithoragarh district, sent a four-page letter to the Chief Justice saying that Kainchi Dham, established in the 1960s, is dedicated to the religious teachings, rituals, beliefs and humanity of Baba Neeb Karori Maharaj. There is a crowd of devotees and visitors from India and abroad throughout the year. The temple is operated by a trust but no information about the trust is publicly available on its website, in records or in verbal form.
There is almost zero transparency in the operation and financial management of the trust. Forget about the common local public, even the local administration Tehsil Kainchi Dham, Registrar Office Nainital and District Magistrate Office Nainital do not know what is the name of the trust that runs the Kainchi Dham temple?
The financial management of the Trust is completely under doubt. No details of the income and expenditure of the temple are made public. Most of the offerings to the temple by most of the devotees are made in cash. Alleged that Kainchi Dham temple has been made a center of management and financial irregularities by the trustees. Crores and billions of rupees received as gifts are being secretly disposed of. The Trust does not make arrangements for drinking water and toilets as per the number for the devotees and visitors.
The rules for registration and operation of religious trusts in the state are applicable under the Indian Trust Act-1882. It is also not publicly known in which registrar office the trust running Kainchi Dham was registered. Nainital Registrar Office has expressed ignorance regarding the registration of any trust related to Kainchi Dham temple in its office.
The financial management of the trust is questionable
The operation of Kainchi Dham temple and the financial management of the operators is completely questionable. No transparent and reliable account of gifts received in cash has been maintained. Due to no government control, financial management in the name of religion and faith has become a game of hide and seek. It is also alleged that Kainchi Dham temple has been made the center of undeclared loot by some people. A few months ago, Rs 2.5 crore was given by the Trust to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. The address of the temple operators is not available in the DM-SDM and Tehsildar offices. This is a conspiracy and racketeering in the name of religious faith.
He has demanded to make public the audit report of the trust and the complete details of the immovable property registered in the name of the trust, the land donated by the local villagers to the trust, and making the local people who have donated land for the temple in the trust as trustees.
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