Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Supreme Court today ordered the Karnataka government to allow Sri Anjaneya Temple head priest-Vidyadas Babaji to continue religious duties as well as reside in a single room situated at the site in terms of a 2023 interim order passed by the Karnataka High Court.

If there is any defiance or non-compliance with the order, the same shall be viewed seriously, the Court warned.

"Issue notice. Authorities are directed to comply with the 2023 interim order passed by High Court in pending writ petition and allow petitioner to continue duties as priest of temple and stay in the single room...Any defiance or non-compliance will be viewed seriously", dictated Justice Surya Kant.

A bench of Justices Kant and Dipankar Datta passed the order, after hearing Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain (for petitioner-priest), who submitted that the petitioner's Sampradaya had been worshipping the temple since 120 years but in 2018, it was illegally acquired.

For context, Sri Anjaneya Temple is located in Koppal, Karnataka. In 2018, the Collector of the district is said to have directed taking over of the management of the temple by removing the petitioner.

Against this order, a writ petition was preferred before the High Court, in which interim order was passed in favor of the petitioner. This order restrained state authorities from taking any precipitative step against the petitioner in relation to the temple or his residence.

"The respondents shall not take any precipitative / coercive steps against the petitioner in relation to the subject temple or his residence in any manner whatsoever... It is made clear that this interim arrangement is without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the parties and subject to further orders of this Court and final outcome of these petitions", the High Court directed in its February, 2023 order.

Be that as it may, in March this year, an attempt was allegedly made by state authorities to replace the petitioner with another priest. “When the Petitioner questioned the Respondents' actions, they threatened him and used abusive language. They instructed him to 'mind his own business' and declared that the pooja and other duties would be performed solely by the third person they appointed", the petitioner states.

The plea further accuses the respondents of harassment. “The Respondents, through their agents or third parties, cut off the electricity supply to the Petitioner's residence within the temple premises. This action was intended to harass the Petitioner and force him to vacate the premises, directly violating the interim order's prohibition on coercive steps... Further, the Respondents, through third parties (temple workers), attempted to frame the Petitioner by planting 'ghanja' (cannabis/drugs) on him".

Although a contempt petition was preferred against the authorities before the High Court, the same was dismissed vide order dated April 9, noting that prima facie case was not made out. The Division Bench of the High Court was of the view that there was material to support the allegations. It observed that the petitioner had not even lodged a police complaint. Aggrieved by this dismissal, the petitioner-priest approached the Supreme Court.

Case Title: VIDYADAS BABAJI Versus V. RASHMI MAHESH AND ORS., SLP(C) No. 14917/2025