'Lord Krishna was first mediator...': SC raps UP govt for 'tearing hurry' to take over Vrindavan's Banke Bihari temple

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the Uttar Pradesh government for its "tearing hurry" in enacting an ordinance to take over ancient Shri Bankey Bihari Ji temple in Vrindavan in Mathura.

The court said it would keep in abeyance its May 15 nod, given in a judgment, to the ambitious scheme to develop Shri Banke Bihari Temple Corridor at Vrindavan for the benefit of devotees, as main stakeholders were not heard.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi deprecated the approach of the state government in moving the court in “clandestine manner”.

The court said it would appoint a committee headed by a retired high court or district judge to manage the affairs of the temple in the interest of lakhs of devotees besides including the main stakeholders in the managing committee.

Hearing a plea related to challenge to the validity of Shri Bankey Bihari Ji Temple Trust Ordinance, 2025, the court asked Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj to take instructions and fixed the matter for consideration on Tuesday.

The court proposed to send the parties to the Allahabad High Court to challenge the validity of the Ordinance.

Meanwhile, the temple management will be under the committee headed by a retired judge and the temple rituals will be continued by the family as before, the bench said.

The court also pointed out that Lord Krishna was the first mediator and parties should try to mediate the matter.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the management of the temple, contended that the Ordinance has ousted the family who were managing the temple and entrusted to a trust under the government's control.

He also said the May 15, 2025 judgment of the Supreme Court, which allowed the government to use the temple funds for the development of the corridor, passed behind the back in a dispute involving two groups and they were not heard.

The court pulled up the state government for filing an application in a "clandestine manner" and asked why the State did not acquire the land as per law after paying compensation.

On May 15, 2025, the Supreme Court approved the Uttar Pradesh government's move to develop a corridor around Banke Bihari ji temple at Mathura and utilise Rs 500 crore from the temple trust fund for the purpose.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi (since retired) and Satish Chandra Sharma modified the Allahabad High Court's order of November 8, 2023, which denied permission to the state government to utilise the temple funds for purchasing the land to build the corridor for wider roads, parking spaces, Dharamshalas, hospitals and other public amenities.

The court also noticed the fact that the temple was a site of an unfortunate stampede in 2022, caused due to the lack of infrastructure that can support large crowd of devotees that visit the temple.

On May 27, 2025, the court pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government for "hijacking" the litigation between two private parties over management of the famous Shri Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan.

The court was then hearing a plea seeking the modification of its order approving the Uttar Pradesh government's proposed redevelopment scheme for the temple.