Delhi govt pulled up in HC for referring illegal temple matter to religious panel

New Delhi: Even as the Delhi government insisted in the Delhi High Court on Thursday to refer the matter of an illegally set up temple in Defence Colony to the Religious Committee, the court pulled it up for failing to implement its earlier stand on demolishing the structure. The court noted that referring such matters to the committee will only lead to chaos and more encroachment.

The high court said the religious committee, which is headed by the Lieutenant Governor, may be needed if there is a big temple, but if somebody puts a few bricks overnight then referring it to the panel will not serve the purpose.

"I want to see what is the scope? Whether just a few bricks put by somebody will fall within the scope of the religious committee's mandate, that is the question. If there is a big temple, the religious committee may be needed but what if somebody puts a few bricks overnight?" Justice Rekha Palli said.

The court noted that earlier the Delhi government had submitted that the authorities plan to demolish the illegal structure on October 4, however, now it has referred the matter to the religious committee.

The court directed the government to place on record a copy of the order by which the religious committee, which deals with the issue of removal of encroachments in the form of religious structures, was constituted.

"Today somebody puts an idol outside the high court or anywhere, you will say now it is a religious structure. There are five bricks lying there and now we will consider whether the religious committee will relocate them? This is not the way," it said. Advocate Anupam Srivastava, representing the Delhi government, said even the authorities wanted the structure to be removed but they had to follow the mandate of the religious committee first and added that they were not shying away from removal.

The court said it will not even take 3-4 hours to build such a structure and added that if that was the view of the government, "then we will have the whole of Delhi encroached".

The court had earlier issued notice and sought response from the Delhi government, DCP (South), Hauz Khas on the petition filed by a property owner in Defence Colony.