The long-standing dispute surrounding the Gaali Anjaneya Swamy Temple on Mysuru Road, Byatarayanapura, has taken a new turn. The Karnataka High Court has directed that the original petition concerning the temple's administration be resolved within four months, while upholding the earlier decision of a single-judge bench to not stay the government's order.
The controversy began when the Muzrai Department took over the temple's administration following allegations that the temple's management had failed to provide proper accounts of its income and expenditures for several years. The temple's administration then approached the Karnataka High Court, filing a petition challenging the government's decision.
Initially, a single-judge bench presided over by Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav refused to grant a stay on the government's order. This led the temple management to file an appeal before a division bench. The division bench, while refusing to interfere with or stay the single-judge bench's interim order, has now set a four-month deadline to resolve the original petition and the underlying issues.
The appeal filed by the temple administration, challenging the interim order issued by the single-judge bench on July 17, was heard by a division bench including Chief Justice Vibhu Bakru. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court declined to intervene or stay the single-judge bench's interim order, instructing that the petition be disposed of within four months.
The single-judge bench of the High Court had earlier refused to grant an interim stay on the state government's order to place the temple under the Muzrai Department's supervision, in response to a petition filed by B.P. Nagaraju, a trustee and convenor of the temple trust, among others. With the division bench now upholding the High Court's earlier ruling, the government's action appears to have been validated.