The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a
plea challenging the vires of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act, 1949, and asked the
petitioner to approach the concerned high court.
The Mahabodhi temple complex in Bihar's Bodh Gaya, a
UNESCO World Heritage site, is one of the four holy areas related to the life
of Lord Gautam Buddha. Bodh Gaya is a place where Lord Buddha is believed to
have attained enlightenment.
A plea challenging the vires of the 1949 Act came up
for hearing before a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and K Vinod Chandran.
The bench asked the petitioner's counsel about the
prayer sought in the plea.
"I (petitioner) have prayed that the Bodh Gaya
Temple Act should be annulled as ultra vires," the counsel said.
The bench said the petitioner should approach the
concerned high court.
"Why don't you do it before the high
court?" the bench asked.
"We are not inclined to entertain the petition
under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. However, liberty is given to the
petitioner to approach the high court," the bench said.
The 1949 Act pertains to the better management of
the temple.
The Mahabodhi temple complex comprises a 50-metre
high grand temple, the Vajrasana, the sacred Bodhi tree and six other sacred
sites of Buddha's enlightenment, surrounded by numerous ancient votive stupas,
well maintained and protected by inner, middle and outer circular boundaries.
A seventh sacred place, the Lotus Pond, is located
outside the enclosure to the south. Both the temple area and the Lotus Pond are
surrounded by circulating passages at two or three levels, and the area of the
ensemble is 5 metres below the level of the surrounding land.
In April this year, Rashtriya Lok Morcha supremo and
former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha demanded an amendment in the provisions
of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act, 1949, so that the management of the Mahabodhi
Mahavihara Temple can be handed over to the Buddhists.