The Bombay High Court on Tuesday disbanded the 15-member committee of the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, which manages the affairs of one of the richest temples in India-the Saibaba temple at Shirdi. Hearing a public interest litigation filed by two Shirdi residents, which said that the committee had carried on way beyond its legal tenure, Justice Naresh Patil and Justice T V Nalawade of the Aurangabad bench of the high court directed the state government to appoint a new committee, failing which, it said, a three-member panel would be given the reins of the temple's administration.

The three-member panel, which will be in place if a new committee is not appointed, comprises the collector of Ahmednagar, the additional district judge of Kopargaon and the chief executive officer of the Shirdi Sansthan. They will jointly oversee a trust that has a staggering annual turnover of over Rs 400 crore besides vast reserves of gold ornaments and investments.

"The original tenure of the existing committee was three years and should have ended in August 2007. But it continued for over seven years," said advocate Satish Talekar, who appeared along with advocate Pradip Patil for the petitioners. "The committee is packed with political appointees, who were appointed by the government without checking their antecedents or qualifications. Some of the members are facing allegations of mismanagement and corruption."

The court, however, said it would not go into the allegations against the trust members at this juncture and clarified that it had based its ruling only on the violation of the Shree Sai Baba Sansthan Trust (Shirdi) Act which was enacted in 2004. The law says that the maximum term of the committee is for three years, and an existing committee can continue on an ad hoc basis till a new board is appointed. "But what was meant to be a stopgap arrangement till the new committee took over was continued in violation of rules," said advocate Talekar. "We hope the government appoints members with integrity on the committee."

The petition, filed by Shirdi residents Rajendra Gondkar and Sandip Kulkarni, had alleged mismanagement at various levels of the trust. As per the rules, the trust can disburse 30% of the funds to educational institutions and needy persons. The petitioners alleged that there was no accountability on disbursal of funds for over five years. Further, they said a four-acre plot allotted to the trust by the state, adjacent to the temple land, was used to construct a shopping complex named after a politician's relative. "Recently, criminal proceedings were issued by a court against five members of the trust over allegations of misappropriation," said advocate Talekar.

Trust chairman Jayant Sasane said that there was no "controversy" in the court order as far as the committee was concerned and that its members "continued to serve Baba" since a new committee was not constituted after their term ended. "We are not contesting the move at all," he said. Asked if he would make a comeback bid, Sasane said, "It is up to the chief minister and the Congress-NCP government to decide. However, everybody can see the kind of work this committee has done. Tourist influx has grown by leaps and bounds since 2004 when I first took over as have the assets of the shrine. We receive up to Rs 1.15 crore in cash donations each day. An entire economy has been created in the temple town, nurturing 25,000 people from the humblest flower seller to the biggest hotelier. We have organized 'Sai bhajan sandhya' events at the Royal Albert Hall in London as well as in Sydney attended by up to 10,000 people."

Meanwhile, trustee Shailesh Kute said the operations of the temple would continue as usual. "The aartis are being held to schedule and the inflow of devotees has not been affected either," he said. "We will continue to do our work until a new committee is appointed." Times of India)