The Revenue Department (Muzrai) has issued a public notification inviting responses from the public on Sri Guru Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Dargah, following the High Court’s direction to reconsider the dispute and arrive at a conclusion.
In the notification dated October 11, the department has appealed to the public to submit their responses to the Muzrai Commissioner’s report dated March 10, 2010, within a month of publishing the notification. In response to a Supreme Court ruling, the Muzrai Department had submitted a report recommending the appointment of a Hindu priest for the cave shrine in 2010.
Later, following the court’s direction, the State Government constituted a three-member committee to listen to all concerned and submit a report. Based on the committee’s recommendation, the government issued an order on March 19, 2018, stating that only Muzawar, appointed by Shah Khadri, the hereditary administrator of the shrine, can conduct religious practices in the shrine, among other issues. The Datta Peetha Devasthana Samvardhana Samiti challenged the government’s order in the High Court. The court on September 28 quashed the government’s order and directed the government to reconsider the issue.
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The State Government constituted a cabinet sub-committee headed by Law minister J.C. Madhuswamy to resolve the issue. The Minister had recently stated that the public would be asked to file their responses and objections on the dispute before the Endowment Commissioner. The committee would hear the responses and if there were more responses from Chikkamagaluru, the members would visit the place to hold hearings.
The notification states that the responses could be sent to the Commissioner of Endowment, Minto Anjaneya Bhavan, Chamarajpet, Bengaluru.