HC dismisses Swamy's PIL against Char Dham Management Act

Dehradun: In a big relief to the state government, Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday dismissed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) of senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy who had sought quashing of the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019. In the landmark judgment, a two-member HC division bench, comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice RC Khulbe, held that the Chardham Devsthanam Act was constitutional.

The court also remarked the main contention that the 2019 Act discloses the avaricious intent of the State to interfere with religious matters, and its intent to take over the properties of the temple given for worship, under the garb of secular activities, is devoid of merit.

The court also observed that the contention that the state has acquired an ancient group of religious institutions belonging to a particular religious denomination, and has departmentalized the entire Devsthanam for an indefinite period "does not merit acceptence".

In the PIL, Swamy had challenged the constitutional validity of the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019, by which the administration and control of major Hindu religious institutions have been taken over by the Uttarakhand government or by any authority functioning under the state government.

Hailing the HC order, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said, "The state government welcome the high court's decision. It is worth notiching that the high court has supported the intentions of our government to build facilities, management structure and infrastructure to fulfil future needs of the revered shrines."

The state assembly had passed the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board Bill in December and Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya gave her assent for the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019 in January 2020.