Bankey Bihari temple priests to move court

Two priests of Bankey Bihari temple here have decided to move court against the management's decision to impose Rs 7.5 lakh fine on them for flouting rules and serving food to some state government officials, including the Chief Secretary, inside the premises.
Terming the temple management committee's decision as arbitrary, one the the priests, Anand Kishor Goswami, yesterday told media persons that the body has no power to impose fines or issue notices.
Anand Kishor said if the priests flout any rules set by the court then the matter should be adjudged by a court of law and not the temple management.

Terming the imposition of fine by the management as completely wrong, Kishor said he would move court against it, and added that by showing the CCTV footage to media the committee has damaged the temple's prestige.
He also sought to shift the blame on the security personnel accompanying the 74 government officers for deciding to serve food within the temple premises.
He also reiterated that there have been instances of priests offering 'prasad' inside the temple earlier as well.
The two priests, on June 30, had served food to 74 officials, including Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan and his wife, inside the temple premises, when they had gone to oversee the development works there.

A fine was imposed on the two by the Temple Management Committee yesterday, which gave seven days time to Anand Kishor Goswami and Jugal Kishor Goswami to deposit the amount failing which their family would be denied facilities they get from the temple.