Is Dakshineswar Temple public property or private (personal property)?
A fresh trial on this question began at the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday (10 December). Earlier, a case regarding the Dakshineswar Temple was filed in the High Court in 2022 over various allegations, including trustee committee elections and financial irregularities. Although the hearing of the main case began in 2022, there has been no significant progress in that case for nearly two years. Now all cases related to the Dakshineswar Temple have been sent to the Division Bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya.
The main case is likely to be heard on 17 December. Before that, the Calcutta High Court directed notices to be sent to the Centre and the state. Whether they have provided any financial grants to Dakshineswar Temple Trust – the Centre and the state will have to submit reports and inform about this matter in the next hearing of the case, that instruction has also been given.
In 2022, a public interest litigation was filed in the Calcutta High Court demanding an investigation into the accounts of Dakshineswar Temple. In that case, allegations were raised that over the past few years, Dakshineswar Temple authorities have received large amounts of money from the West Bengal government and the central government in various sectors. But proper accounts of that were not maintained. Allegations were also raised regarding the allocation of space to shop owners in the temple premises.
