Datta Peetha: HC quashes govt order allowing rituals by Mujawar

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court, today, quashed an order issued by the Karnataka government appointing a Mujawar for holding worship rituals at Datta Peetha or Bababudangiri cave shrine/dargah in Chikkamagaluru district.

The Shri Guru Dattatreya Peetha Temple Development Committee had earlier filed a petition in the high court challenging the validity of the state government order issued on May 19, 2018, pertaining to re-codification of management and rituals.

A single-member bench of Justice P S Dinesh Kumar agreed with the arguments of the petitioner and repealed the May 19 order. It also directed the government to review the issue, without considering the report of the high-level committee.

The state government had issued the order on the basis of the recommendations of Justice H N Nagamohan Das committee’s recommendations.

The order said that the nature and character of religious practices which were prevailing at the shrine as of August 15, 1947, have to be continued. Further, it mentions that the shrine belongs to the Muzrai department and is not a wakf property.

The order further contradicted itself by allowing religious rituals inside the shrine by a Mujawar appointed by the Shah Khadri.