The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Uttarakhand government to put on hold the demolition of four illegally constructed temples in Haridwar till the completion of the Ardh Kumbh scheduled from January to April next year.
The order came on a plea by the state government which cited the upcoming Kumbh Mela as a ground to seek extension of time to comply with a Supreme Court order of September 29, 2009, that required all unauthorised religious structures made on public land to be demolished. To ensure implementation of the said order, the Uttarakhand high court had initiated a suo moto petition last year to monitor the progress of work done by the state.
Appearing for the state government, solicitor general Tushar Mehta told a three-judge bench of the apex court that out of a total of 793 identified illegal religious structures, only five remained to be demolished. These included four structures in Haridwar and a gurdwara in Udham Singh Nagar.
Due to the approaching Kumbh, the Uttarakhand government had requested for time to carry out the demolition of the four illegal structures at Haridwar, where Kumbh is to take place. The state argued that during Kumbh, the state will be required to allocate space to the akharas for placing their deities and removing these structures now will entail law and order problems.
The bench of justices Ashok Bhushan, RS Reddy and MR Shah accepted this request of the state government and gave them time till May 31, 2021 to clear these structures.
These structures included Shri Gopaldas through Mehent Rajendradas Nirmohi Akhada, Beragi Camp, Haridwar, (182.25 square metres), Shri Brahmdutt Dharamdas (Jagannath) Beragi Camp, Nirmani Adi Akhada, Haridwar (273 square metres), Shri Ranchood Das, Bhaiyadas Digamber Akhada, Beragi Camp, Haridwar (16.81 square metres), and Shri Amitpuri Niranjan Dev, Niranjani Akhada, Gangeswar Beragi Camp, Haridwar (37.44 square metres).
The bench held, “For the reasons given in the application and especially that ‘Kumbh Mela’ is to commence in 2021 and will end on April 15, 2021, we are of the view that the State should be permitted to demolish the illegal structures by May 31, 2021.”
The Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad also sought intervention in the matter and requested the court to consider regularizing the structures. They admitted that the structures were made on land belonging to the irrigation department. According to Vanshaja Shukla, who drafted the state’s appeal, these structures were constructed during the Ardh Kumbh of 2010. “When the Kumbh Mela is organized, all the Akharas are given temporary places for them to place their deity, and camp around it and live there for the whole period of Kumbh Mela and perform their religious practices and rituals,” Shukla said.
