Gauhati HC directs Kamrup DC to form Hajo Temple managing committee within a month

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: A Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court comprising Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Kaushik Goswami has directed Kamrup District Commissioner to constitute the managing committee for Hayagriva Madhab Temple, Hajo, within a month.

The court issued the directive under Section 25-A of the Assam State Acquisition of Lands Belonging to Religious or Charitable Institutions of Public Nature Act, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as the "1959 Act").

The court, however, clarified that the constitution of such a managing committee shall not, by itself, render the earlier scheme framed by the Civil Court inoperative or have the effect of superseding the same in its entirety. The said scheme shall continue to operate to the extent that it remains legally in force, unless modified or set aside by a competent court. If the earlier scheme's provisions conflict with any mandatory act provision, the latter prevails.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL-68/2024) to this effect was filed, questioning the failure on the part of the respondent authority to take appropriate steps to manage the affairs of the Hayagriva Madhab Temple, Hajo.

The petitioner challenged the orders issued on April 24, 2013, and March 25, 2014, by the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup, which refused to constitute the managing committee for the Hajo temple.

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