MP High Court Bar Association Writes To CJI Seeking Probe Into Alleged Demolition Of Hanuman Temple Inside CJ Suresh Kumar Kait's Official Residence
The Madhya Pradesh High Court Bar Association has addressed a letter to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Supreme Court Judge Justice B.R. Gavai and has requested an investigation into a Complaint regarding demolition of an ancient Hanuman Temple situated inside the official bungalow of Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court - Justice Suresh Kumar Kait.
The letter is signed by Dhanya Kumar Jain, President of the Association.
As per the earlier Complaint by Advocate Ravindra Nath Tripathi, a Member of the M.P. High Court Bar, he came to know from the reliable sources that CJ Suresh Kumar Kait got demolished the old temple which was in the compound of his official residence. He, therefore, sought enquiry into the alleged incidence of destruction of temple.
The Complainant further sought direction from CJI Sanjiv Khanna to CJ Kait to recuse himself from Public Interest Litigation (PIL), seeking removal of temples from the police stations. He also sought initiation of criminal proceeding against CJ Kait or permission to file case against him if any offence is made out.
As per the letter, the Madhya Pradesh High Court Advocates Association's member Advocate Ravindra Nath sent a Complaint to the Bar Association regarding the demolition of the ancient temple situated in the bungalow of CJ Kait.
It is further stated in the letter that due to such demolition, the entire Advocates Association is upset with the legal world and the society. The ancient temple has been demolished, due to which an environment of sadness and anger has been created among the entire Advocates' Association, legal fraternity, and the general public.
The following Prayer has been made in the letter so addressed to the Apex Court –
1. That, the temple of the bungalow of the Chief Justice is said to be a very ancient temple, in which many Chief Justices of the M.P. High Court used to do their daily work by performing Puja and out of which, Justice Bobde, Justice Khanwilkar, and Justice Hemant Gupta used to start their daily work by doing daily worship. Later, the said Judges were also appointed as Justices of the Supreme Court. Justice Bobde also became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Justice Khanwilkar is currently the Lokpal of India. Therefore, the temple located in the bungalow of the Chief Justice is a historical temple, whose protection and respect are the responsibilities of the Madhya Pradesh High Court Advocates Association.
2. That, in the bungalow of the Chief Justice, when Justice Rafat Alam Ji and Justice Shri Rafiq Ahmed Ji, who had been the Chief Justices of the M.P. High Court, were Chief Justices, the employees working in the bungalow of the Chief Justice used to perform daily puja in the said temple, to which both the Muslim Judges never expressed any objection, rather they always respected the religious sentiments of all the employees working in their bungalow.
3. That the said bungalow and temple are government property, the reconstruction of that temple has also been done from time to time using government money because mostly the Chief Justice and employees who believe in Sanatan Dharma have been living in the bungalow and hence, they need not go far away to perform their religious prayers and waste their precious time. Therefore, the said temple is an extremely essential means for making life happy, peaceful, and beautiful, and tampering with and destroying the said temple without the permission of the Government or before passing any legal Order is not only insulting the majority of Sanatan loving people of the country but is also a distortion of Government property.
Therefore, through this letter, it has been requested to the Supreme Court to get the Complaint investigated at a high level as soon as possible and take legal action against those guilty of causing the incident.
