Supreme Court proposes interim committee to manage Bankey Bihari temple

The Supreme Court on Friday (August 8, 2025) proposed to modify its May 15 judgment which permitted the Uttar Pradesh government to use funds from the Shri Bankey Bihari Temple at Vrindavan for acquiring five acres of land around the temple for corridor development.

A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi orally addressed the lawyers in the case that the May 15 verdict would be modified to the extent that it would not affect the rights of the stakeholders in the temple.

Justice Kant’s remarks came after senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that the ordinance cannot be allowed to continue in its present form.

On August 4, the apex court had come down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh Government for the “tearing hurry” in which it had promulgated the Shri Bankey Bihari Ji Temple Trust Ordinance, 2025, to take over the management of the temple.

The apex court had also criticised the manner in which the State secured directions from the Supreme Court through a May 15 judgment to use temple funds for the corridor development project without hearing the temple’s traditional management or affected parties.

The Bench said it would, in its proposed judgment, further give the petitioners liberty to challenge the ordinance before the Allahabad High Court. The court said it did not want to make any comments on the merits of the ordinance.

“We will grant you liberty to challenge the ordinance before the High Court. The constitution of the committee as per the ordinance will be kept in abeyance so that the ordinance is not given effect till the matter is decided by the High Court,” Justice Kant said orally.

The court told the parties that it would also keep in abeyance a provision mandating the constitution of a committee or trust to manage the temple.

Instead, Justice Kant said an interim committee headed by a retired High Court judge and comprising local officials, like the District Collector, and Goswamis would be formed to take care of the development of the temple and the law and order situation around its premises. The court said it did not want a repeat of the 2022 tragedy when a stampede occurred at the temple during Janmashtami celebrations.

Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj said the State government was moving to ratify the ordinance in the Assembly. The court said the stay would not affect the government’s action.

The Bench, in an order, stayed pending proceedings in the High Court on writ petitions filed against the ordinance. The apex court also stayed a July 21 order of a Single Judge of the High Court in which certain observations were made about the ordinance.

In the previous hearing, Mr. Nataraj had said the government was keen to develop the temple by providing better facilities to worshippers like in the cases of Ayodhya and Kashi.

“The temple is historic. About 20,000 to 30,000 people come to worship at the temple every day. Weekends see two to three lakh devotees. There is a requirement for better facilities, better administration. There has been mismanagement of funds,” Mr. Nataraj had submitted.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for the current temple management, had objected to the submission of “mismanagement of funds”.

“This is the land of Lord Krishna. He was the first mediator known to the world. Let’s find a way out to resolve the dispute pending for years and develop the area in the interest of lakhs of devotees who visit these iconic religious places. Basic amenities need to be created as nowadays religious tourism is one of the biggest sources of revenue,” Justice Kant had orally observed in an earlier hearing. eom