Plea filed before Bombay High Court against special provision for paid VIP entry in Trimbakeshwar temple

A public interest litigation has been filed before the Bombay High Court challenging the special provision made for VIP entry to the Trimbakeshwar Temple on payment of ₹200 [Lalita Shinde v. State of Maharashtra & Ors.].The plea filed by Lalita Shinde, a former member of the Trimbakeshwar Temple Trust, said that such special treatment to some persons on payment of fees was discriminatory. “There is a distinction created between persons having money and persons not having money. The property is to be managed by the Archaelogical Survey of India. Entry into the temple should be controlled by the ASI. No law allows them this trust to charge such things”, the advocate Rameshwar Gite, appearing for Shinde contended. A division bench of Justices SV Gangapurwala and SG Dige, however, was not convinced with the submissions. “The distinction that is sought to be made is for entry into the temple. If person asks for some preference, then extra can be charged. Arrangement is made for those persons. You show a provision which says it is not allowed”, the Bench said.The bench then granted time to the counsel to put forth any additional arguments if need be. “You can do social work in a better manner. We will grant you some time. We are not convinced with your arguments,” the Bench said posting the matter for further consideration on November 30..According to the petitioner, the temple was declared as an ‘ancient monument’ under the Ancient Monument Preservation Act (AMPA) which meant, it was a protected monument. After a long drawn dispute between the members of the temple trust, in 2011, the Supreme Court directed that the temple be managed by a 9-member committee. The levy of charges for VIP entry began after the formation of the modified committee. Several representations were made to the archaeological department pointing out that the charging for VIP entry was a discrimination between the rich and the poor.Pursuant to such complaint, the archaeological department wrote to the trust that placing donation box in the temple, was in contravention to AMPA. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) also wrote to the Collector of Nashik pointing out that the collection of ₹200 was illegal and in contravention of the AMPA.However, the Collector did not initiate any action.Aggrieved, the petitioner approached the High Court.