“You have made a joke of the deity. Is anybody concerned about anything other than money?” asked the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, wondering if the government could be told to take over the famous Kalkaji temple. The court was hearing an appeal moved by the priest of the temple, seeking to restrain his two widow sisters from performing puja and collecting offerings.
‘No one will get a penny’
“No one will get a single penny,” said Justice J. R. Midha. The court also proposed to appoint an officer to collect the offerings. “I will appoint a court officer to collect the offerings, which will be distributed subject to the decision of the court. Entire thing will be video-recorded. No one will touch the money,” said the Bench. The court also said that either the parties settle the matter, or it could refer the matter to a PIL Bench and see that the government took over the temple.
The court was an hearing appeal by Sat Dev, the son of late priest Prem, filed through advocate B. L. Wali. It sought directions that his sisters, who are now widows, be barred from performing puja and claiming their share in the offerings made.
Sat Dev contended that no woman could perform puja at the temple as it had never happened in the history of the Kalkaji temple.
In his appeal, Sat Dev said that since his sisters belonged to a different gotra and had married, they had no right to perform puja. He approached the high court after a trial court decided that his sisters could perform puja.
The matter has been listed the matter for February 10.
