Proposed law banning misuse of names of Char Dham to be ineffective outside U’khand: Experts
Saturday, 20 July 2024 | Gajendra Singh Negi | DEHRADUN
Though the Uttarakhand government is planning to enact a law to prevent the exploitation of the names of Char Dham in construction of temples and for naming trusts, the legal experts opine that the proposed law would not be effective outside the State.
Following strong resentment expressed by the Teerth Purohits and the general public, the Uttarakhand government has decided to enact a law which, according to it, will prohibit the ‘misuse’ of the names of Char Dham in construction of temples and nomenclature of trusts. In the meeting of the State cabinet headed by chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday, a decision to formulate a legal framework in this regard was taken. Though the BJP leaders are expressing happiness on the decision of Dhami government, the regulations enacted by the State government will be applicable only within the boundaries of Uttarakhand and ineffective in other States from where the instances of the constructions of temples named after Char Dhams are being reported.
Senior lawyer RS Raghav told The Pioneer that the State government can enact laws applicable and effective within the boundaries of the Uttarakhand. He said that usually some trust or society constructs the temples and for registration of the trust, a trust deed has to be registered at the sub registrar’s office. Similarly the societies are registered under Registration of Societies Act in the office of firms, societies and chits in any of the States of the country.
Former president of Dehradun Bar Association, Manmohan Kandwal also echoed similar views and added that the Union government should enact the law banning misuse of the names of the prominent temples, Dham and other religious places. The spokesperson of Uttarakhand Char Dham Teerth Purohit Mahapanchayat, Rajnikant Semwal told The Pioneer that the proposed law should be more effective and for this the State government should approach the Union government.
Irked by the recent foundation stone laying ceremony of Kedarnath Dham temple in Buradi, New Delhi by Kedarnath Dham Trust, Delhi, the Teerth Purohits and traditional stakeholders of Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand started a protest. The protest was supported by Char Dham Mahapanchayat and other sections of the society following which the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami intervened and assured the Teerth Purohits that the temple and trust in Delhi will not use the name Kedarnath Dham. Following the assurance of CM the Teerth Purohits suspended the agitation.
