Supreme Court Directs Haridwar Collector To Inquire Into Maa Chandi Devi Temple Trust Management; Allows BKTC's Interim Supervision

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (Aug. 19) directed the District Collector of Haridwar to conduct a personal inquiry into the management of the Maa Chandi Devi Temple Trust, Haridwar.

The Supreme Court also refrained from disturbing the interim arrangement put in place by the Uttarakhand High Court by which the management of the trust was directed to be under the supervision of the Badarinath Kedarnath Temple Committe (BKTC).

The Court asked the District Collector to conduct a fresh inquiry and recommend a suitable interim management structure in a report to be submitted to the High Court, which shall then take a final call on the permanent/regular management of the temple trust.

The bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and SVN Bhatti requested the High Court to adjourn the matter for six weeks, implead intervenors, and prioritize final adjudication, and until the Collector's report is reviewed, the High Court's earlier order placing the temple under BKTC supervision will remain in force.

The District Collector of Haridwar will hold a personal inquiry into the functioning and management of the Math, and must hear all stakeholders, including intervenors like BKTC and Rohit Giri, and may involve other relevant parties, the court said.

“He(Collector) would take into consideration the overall situation and is also free to involve in the investigation other parties, which may not be presently before us so as to get an overall and more broad-based response with regard to the actual situation on the ground and then, he is also at liberty to suggest what should be the interim arrangement with regard to managing of the affairs of the Math, till the matter is finally decided by the High Court. He shall focus on the best interest for the Math and its devotees. The report shall be submitted to the High Court in the pending proceeding.”, the court directed the Collector.

When informed by the Counsel appearing for the BKTC that the Committee had already started supervising the affairs of the Temple Trust, the Court refrained from taking supervising control from the BKTC.

“As we have been informed that the matter is listed tomorrow i.e., 20.08.2025, the parties shall bring to the notice of the Court the present order and the High Court is requested to adjourn the matter by six weeks to await the report of the Collector. The High Court is further requested to implead person(s), who may not be the party before the High Court and have been heard in the present matter. The High Court is further requested to take up the matter on priority and finally, decide the issue so that a permanent/regular arrangement is put into place rather than an ad hoc arrangement. In terms of direction in the impugned order with regard to interim arrangement, learned senior counsel for the BKTC has informed this Court that the BKTC has already started supervising the affairs of the Math in question. It shall also submit an up-to-date report to the High Court on the adjourned date and shall keep on submitting periodic updated reports to the High Court in the matter.”, the court said.

Background

The petitions were filed by Mahant Bhawani Nandan Giri, challenging a June 25, 2025, order of the Uttarakhand High Court. In that order, the High Court, citing irregularities, permitted the existing trust to continue functioning only under the direct supervision of the Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), directed the appointment of a Receiver, and restrained both the petitioner and the complainant from interfering in the temple's daily affairs.

Significantly, the High Court had taken suo motu cognizance of mismanagement in the temple trust while hearing an anticipatory bail plea filed by the live-in partner of Mahant Rohit Giri. Rohit Giri, along with others, was accused of blackmailing and intimidating his estranged wife. While granting bail, the High Court observed that it would be improper to entrust the management of the temple trust to Giri, who was also facing molestation charges. As an interim measure, the Court therefore placed the trust under BKTC's supervision.

Following this, the present petitions were filed before the Supreme Court on a limited aspect of the temple trust's management.

Cause Title: MAHANT BHAWANI NANDAN GIRI VERSUS STATE OF UTTARAKHAND & ANR. (and Connected case)

Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 817

Click here to read/download the order

Appearance:

For Petitioner(s) Mr. Siddhartha Dave, Sr. Adv. Mr. Sahil Modi, Adv. Mr. Rohan Trivedi, Adv. Mr. Ashwani Kumar Dubey, AOR Mr. Gaurav Aggarwal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Neeraj Garg, Adv. Mr. Anmol Kheta, Adv. Ms. Tanya Srivastava, AOR

For Respondent(s) Mr. Mukesh Sharma, Adv. Dr. Dinesh Sharma, Adv. Mr. D.S. Badiar, Adv. Mr. Yashwant Kumar, Adv. Mr. Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, AOR Mr. Sanjay Hegde, Sr. Adv. Ms. Suveni Bhagat, AOR Mr. Satya Kam Sharma, AOR Mr. Ashish Kumar, Adv. Mr. Manish Goswami Sr., Adv. Mr. Dinesh Sharma, Adv. Mr. Sunny Verma, Adv. Mr. Rajan Kumar Prasad, Adv. Mr. Rajbeersingh Attri, Adv. Mr. Sanjay Yadav, Adv. Mr. Ravi Kumar Tomar, AOR