By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
DEHRADUN, 24 Feb: BJP MP Subramanian Swamy today filed a Public Interest Litigation against the Uttarakhand Government’s decision to set up a Devasthanam Management Board to run the Char Dham and other related shrines in Uttarakhand. The PIL was filed today before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan. Sources claimed that the petition was likely to come up for hearing tomorrow. Incidentally, the PIL comes at a time when Garhwal Commissioner Ravinath Raman has taken over as CEO of the Devasthanam Board. It may be recalled that Swamy had arrived in Nainital, yesterday, to file a PIL challenging the Uttarakhand Government’s decision to set up the Devasthanam Board to regulate the Char Dham and other related Hindu Shrines. Speaking to media reporters, Swamy claimed that setting up of the Devasthanam Board was an infringement of the rights of Hindus as independent citizens. Swamy has sought quashing of the State Government’s Act to take over the main temples. He claimed that the Act of the state government was wholly mischievous, unconstitutional and against the ideology of Hindutva. He also said that it was disheartening to note that a BJP Government was attempting to wrest control over Hindu shrines and claimed that this was against the BJP’s own ideology! It may be recalled that priests from several related shrines had some time ago called on Swamy seeking his intervention since he had filed similar PILs in the past in other states and won. The priests have been agitating against the government’s decision and the chief Opposition party, the Congress, too, has lent its support to the priests and has criticised the Trivendra Singh Rawat Government for its decision.