New Delhi, Aug 20 (UNI) The Supreme Court yesterday directed the District Collector of Haridwar to conduct a personal inquiry into the functioning and management of the Maa Chandi Devi Temple Trust in Haridwar, while refraining from disturbing the interim arrangement already put in place by the Uttarakhand High Court.
A Bench of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice SVN Bhatti asked the Collector to hold a fresh inquiry, hear all stakeholders, including intervenors such as the Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) and Mahant Rohit Giri, and also involve any other relevant parties, to prepare a comprehensive report.
The Court said the Collector’s findings should include recommendations on what interim management structure would best serve the interests of the Math and its devotees until a permanent arrangement is decided. The report is to be submitted before the High Court in the pending proceedings.
The Bench further requested the High Court to adjourn the case for six weeks to await the Collector’s report, implead those who had been heard in the present matter but were not parties before the High Court, and to take up the matter for final adjudication on priority.
Until then, the earlier order of the High Court placing the temple trust under the supervision of the BKTC will continue to remain in force. When informed by counsel for the BKTC that the Committee had already begun supervising the affairs of the trust, the Supreme Court made it clear that it would not interfere with that arrangement. The Court also directed the BKTC to submit an up-to-date status report to the High Court on the next date of hearing and to continue providing periodic reports regarding the trust’s functioning.
The background of the case traces back to a June 25, 2025, order of the Uttarakhand High Court, which, citing irregularities, directed that the trust’s affairs be supervised by the BKTC, appointed a Receiver, and barred both the petitioner Mahant Bhawani Nandan Giri and the complainant from interfering in the temple’s daily management. The High Court had taken suo motu cognizance of alleged mismanagement of the temple trust while hearing an anticipatory bail plea filed by the live-in partner of Mahant Rohit Giri, who faced accusations of blackmailing and intimidating his estranged wife, along with molestation charges.
Observing that it would be improper to entrust the management of the temple to Giri under such circumstances, the High Court had placed the trust under the ad hoc control of the BKTC.
Challenging that order, Mahant Bhawani Nandan Giri approached the Supreme Court, which has now left the interim arrangement untouched while ordering a Collector-led inquiry to ensure a broad-based and fair assessment of the trust’s management.
The Court allowed BKTC’s interim supervision.
