HC stays new Shirdi board’s appointment

Three days after the state government reappointed former Congress MLA Jayant Sasane as the chairman of the new Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan Management Committee, one of the richest temple trusts in India, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay high court on Friday stayed its constitution. The court handed over control to a three-member ad-hoc committee headed by the Ahmednagar principal district judge.

Three days after the state government reappointed former Congress MLA Jayant Sasane as the chairman of the new Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan Management Committee, one of the richest temple trusts in India, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay high court on Friday stayed its constitution. The court handed over control to a three-member ad-hoc committee headed by the Ahmednagar principal district judge.

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Acting on a petition, an earlier bench had dissolved the board constituted in August 2004 as it had been allowed to continue far beyond its stipulated three-year period. The court had set the state government a March 28 deadline to constitute the new managing committee.

The division bench of justices Bhushan Gavai and SP Desh-mukh disapproved of the fresh appointments and termed them distribution of largesse, especially after finding a close relative of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on the new committee.

The judges were also irked to note that the government had not framed rules for appointment of members on the management committee despite HC orders.