Setback for Karnataka govt: HC quashes Anjanadri temple notice

Koppal: The Karnataka High Court has overturned two government orders concerning the administration of the renowned Anjanadri temple, ruling that the authorities failed to provide the concerned parties a proper opportunity to be heard before taking action.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna’s bench quashed the September 24, 2018, notification bringing the Koppal district shrine under the religious endowments framework and the December 15, 2018, order appointing an administrator and an executive officer.

The court found that the absence of adequate notice and a hearing was contrary to the principles of natural justice. The ruling has dealt a setback to the state government’s earlier decisions, but it does not mean that the government has permanently lost the power to regulate the temple.

The bench said the state could undertake fresh legal proceedings and issue another notification if necessary, provided it followed the prescribed procedure. An earlier order issued by the Deputy Commissioner on July 18, 2018, had already been withdrawn by the state government on June 26, 2019. Consequently, the court considered the petition relating to that order infructuous.

The judgment also clarified that Vidyadasa Baba could continue performing puja and archaka duties in accordance with earlier directions issued by the Supreme Court and the High Court.

The district administration’s position is that the court’s permission concerns religious duties and does not, by itself, take the temple outside the Muzrai department’s jurisdiction.

Anjanadri Hill is a prominent pilgrimage destination associated with Lord Hanuman’s birthplace. While the ruling settles the challenge to the 2018 orders, the government retains the option of revisiting the temple’s administrative arrangements through a legally compliant process.