The Bombay High Court dismissed a PIL seeking transfer of a case against Balumama temple trustees in Kolhapur due to lack of an FIR by the petitioners, branding it “misconceived.” The plea alleged criminal breach of trust by the trustees and requested the state to form an SIT.
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MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court decisively dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the transfer of a case against the trustees of the renowned Balumama temple in Kolhapur.
The court’s judgment was grounded on the observation that there was no First Information Report (FIR) registered against the trustees, which essentially underpinned the plea. This decision emphasized the court’s stance on the prerequisites for initiating a legal investigation.
The PIL, initiated by a group of devotees represented by Advocate Nimesh Mehta, levied serious accusations against certain trustees of the temple. It was alleged that these trustees were involved in the misappropriation of trust funds amounting to crores of rupees.
Furthermore, there were claims that some trustees had unlawfully sold land belonging to the temple trust without obtaining the necessary permissions. These allegations pointed towards a significant breach of trust and raised concerns about the integrity of the temple’s management.
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Despite these allegations, the division bench comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor identified a critical flaw in the plea. The bench highlighted that the request for the investigation to be transferred to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was “misconceived”.
This determination was based on the absence of an FIR lodged by the petitioning devotees. Elaborating on this, the bench stated-
“Without an FIR or a criminal complaint, there is no grounds for an investigation, rendering the plea unfounded.”
The petition extended beyond requesting a transfer of investigation; it also urged for the relocation of an application before the Joint Charity Commissioner of the Kolhapur division to another charity commissioner. This was proposed to ensure a fair trial and protect the devotees’ interests.
However, upon review, the court found that the application in question was filed by an unrelated party, not the petitioners themselves. Consequently, the bench emphasized the impracticality of transferring a petition in which the petitioner had no involvement.
“As the petitioner is not part of the proceedings, the request for transfer is not viable,”
– the bench observed, leading to the outright dismissal of the PIL.
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