The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging an Andhra Pradesh High Court order regarding the use of endowment land belonging to the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple for the annual “Vijayawada Utsav” exhibition.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prashant Kumar Mishra refused to entertain the plea against the September 17 order of a division bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. “We are not inclined to interfere with the interim order,” the bench said.
The controversy pertains to agricultural lands in Godugupeta, Machilipatnam (Krishna district), owned by the temple, which were proposed to be leased out for 56 days at a payment of Rs 45 lakh to organise the annual exhibition.
Earlier, a single judge of the high court, acting on a petition filed by devotees, had held that temple endowment lands could not be diverted for commercial purposes. The judge directed the authorities not to dump materials on the land or proceed further with the exhibition proposal.
The single judge’s order was challenged before a division bench, which stayed it on September 17. The division bench, however, refrained from making detailed observations and clarified that the interim stay would continue until the single judge finally decides the pending writ petition.
With the Supreme Court’s refusal to interfere, the division bench’s interim stay order remains in effect, effectively allowing the proposed use of the temple land for the exhibition pending final adjudication by the high court.
