The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra government to constitute a new management committee for the Shri Sai Baba Sanstha Trust, Shirdi, owing to certain violations in formation of the earlier panel.
On September 16, 2021, the Maharashtra government had issued a notification constituting a committee headed by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Ashutosh Kale for managing the affairs of the trust.
The notification was challenged by Uttam Shelke whose petition pointed out that the constitution of this committee was done in violation of certain rules and the committee did not have a member from socially and economically backward classes.
Previously, the court had restrained the committee from discharging its duties and appointed an ad-hoc committee chaired by the Principal District Judge, Ahmednagar, as an interim measure.
A Division Bench headed by Justice R.D. Dhanuka on Tuesday quashed the notification appointing the management committee and directed the State to constitute a new committee adhering to principles and procedure laid down by the High Court within a period of eight weeks.
The court has further directed that an ad-hoc committee consisting of the Principal District Judge of Ahmednagar, Collector of Ahmednagar and Chief Executive Officer of the trust would look after its day to day affairs until a new committee is formed by the State government.
