Maharashtra govt looting temple wealth: Bombay HC accepts PIL challenging over Rs. 10 crores worth ‘illegal’ transfer to state govt
The temple trust in the past five months has pledged Rs 10 crore to the Maharashtra government. It sanctioned Rs 5 crore first for the Shiv Bhojan scheme of Maharashtra government. A person is charged Rs 10 per plate of food under this scheme, which is a pet project of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. It was mentioned in the election manifesto of the Shiv Sena.
Later, the temple trust, which is headed by Shiv Sena leader Aadesh Bandekar, announced a contribution of Rs 5 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund as contribution towards the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
The petitioner has cited these two instances of the transfer of fund from the temple trust to the government. But she cleaimed that more such transfers have taken place in the last five months.
The PIL was filed by Leela Ranga, an advocate from Goregaon area of Mumbai. She identified herself as an ardent devotee of Lord Ganesha to whom the Siddhivinayak temple is dedicated. Ranga said she has made many donations herself to the temple on multiple occasions.
The Bombay High Court, on Friday, refused to grant any interim stay on transfer of funds from Siddhivinayak Temple trust in Mumbai to Maharashtra government for fight against COVID-19 and for a subsidised food scheme for the poor in the state.
The HC accepted the PIL however, the court refused to grant any interim relief in the petition, observing that if the petitioner wins, the court can always direct the state government to reverse the transactions made.
