A division bench of Justice D D Sinha and Vijaya Kapse- Tahilramani yesterday said the property belonged to a trust which was managed by the Charity Commissioner. He is competent to decide the issue, they said.
The PIL, filed by Ratnakar Joshi, urged the High Court to direct the Nasik Collector to decide the complaint filed by him in this regard on August 8 last year and take action against erring members of Trymbakeshwar Municipal Council.
The 67-year-old social worker said in a special meeting of the Municipal Council on August 8, 2011, a resolution was passed granting approval to a land reserved for temple improvement scheme for running a shop by wife of a Municipal Council member.
On this plot of land, the Municipal Council member was running an eatary stall under the pretext that he was selling 'Zunka Bhakar', the staple food of Maharashtra, at subsidised rate, the PIL alleged.
The petitioner said the Council did not have the powers to change the use of the land as it was reserved for the temple improvement. Moreover, it had not followed due process of law, he argued.
The High Court, however, refused to hear the matter and asked the petitioner to move the Charity Commissioner.