Gurugram: In an unusual legal battle, Lord Shiva sought justice in the Punjab and Haryana High Court—and won, securing temporary relief.
The deity, named as petitioner in a case challenging the sealing of the historic Prachin Shiv Mandir in Chandigarh, secured temporary relief after the high court ordered the reopening of the temple’s main gates for Maha Shivratri.
A division bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Vikas Suri ordered the reopening of the main gates from 25 February to 2 March, 2025, solely to manage crowd flow and prevent any untoward incidents due to restricted access.
The court also directed that the Military Police would supervise entry of devotees for the entire period. It said the arrangement was temporary, and once the celebrations conclude, the temple gates must be sealed again on the night of 2 March.
During the hearing, the petitioners—temple representatives and two advocates through whom ‘Lord Shiva’ filed the petition—argued that the closure of the main gates following an eviction order under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971, would create chaos during the festival.
Under the 1971 Act, the temple was taken over by authorities, and its main gates were sealed following eviction proceedings. The high court, however, did not pass any judgment on the legality of the eviction order or the temple management’s authority to act on behalf of the deity.
Counsel for the Chandigarh administration, P.S. Kanwar and Deepak Malhotra, confirmed that the temple had been taken over in compliance with a valid eviction order. However, they did not object to temporary access being granted for religious purposes.
(Edited by Sudha V)
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