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Judgment
Jasbir Singh, Acting Chief Justice
Petitioners claiming themselves as devotees of a religious shrine known as "Peer Baba Zinda Shaheed" situated in the premises of Police Station Nurpur Bedi, have filed this writ petition. It is their grievance that, arbitrarily the police officials have formed a Society to manage the affairs of that shrine and there is likelihood of the pilferage of the offerings made by the devotees at that place. In response to the notice issued, reply has been filed.
It is evident from the records that the Senior Superintendent of Police, District Rupnagar, is the Chairman of the Governing Body besides other police officials as its members. In paragraph Nos. 2 to 5 (Preliminary Submissions) of the reply, it has been stated as under:-
That it is pertinent to mention here that the Police Station Noorpur Bedi is in existence since 1934 in an area of about 3 Acre. The shrine is within the boundary walls of this Police Station. The affairs of the said Shrine have always remained under the control of a committee which was headed by the Police Head of the District i.e. Senior Superintendent of Police, Ropar. The records pertaining, to the offerings alongwith the expenditure prior to 2008 have been maintained in the record books which can be shown to this Hon''ble Court at the time of arguments if asked for. However, to avoid any complications, a formal society was formed and registered under the Chairmanship of the then SSP, Ropar. It is pertinent to mention here that the answering society came into existence in the year 2008 and the same is registered with the Registrar of Societies. Since, its inception, the affairs of the society has been put to annual audits. It is pertinent to mention here that representatives of general public have also been added as the members of the society. The list of Committee Members of the Society is being annexed herewith as Annexure R-1 and the annual audit report for the year 2009 and 2010 are being annexed herewith as Annexure R-2 to R-3 respectively for the kind consideration of this Hon''ble Court.
That it is worthwhile to mention here that the answering respondent has no personal interest to continue as the Chairman of the Society, but, since, the same is also being taken as the part of the duty, the answering respondent can not run away from the same. The society can not be allowed to run by any private person except the police personal as the shrine situates inside the boundary of the Police Station, therefore, it is not viable on account of security reasons to allow any one else to run any institution within the premises of the Police Station. The police authorities are maintaining the Shrine and its affairs since 1934 and in order to improve the working, the answering society was got registered. It is also not the allegation of the petitioner that the religious functions as per the rituals are not being performed by the society under the chairmanship of SSP Roopnagar. In fact, the society has been organizing the affairs of the shrine every Thursday along with on every Sangrand. Annual Jalsa of the Peer is also being organized with great pomp and show.
That is apt to highlight here that the petitioner has leveled the allegations the funds of the shrine is being spent for the purchase of police vehicles, four wheelers, two wheelers vehicles of police and constructing police building etc. These allegations leveled by the petitioner are palpably wrong and infact, the distorted version of facts have been putforth. It is submitted that money collected from the offerings of the shrine is being put to proper utilization for the welfare of the followers of the shrine and local residents. Till date 3 Ambulances, 1 Mini Bus, 5 Jeeps and 6 Motorcycles have been purchased from the fund of the society. All the above mentioned vehicles have been put to proper public utilization. It is pertinent to mention here that a total 47 KM of area fall under the jurisdiction of Police Station. The resolution dated 01/06/2009 for purchasing the above said vehicles, is being annexed herewith as Annexure R-4 for the kind perusal of this Hon''ble Court.
That it is pertinent to mention here that in the humblest submissions of the answering respondent, running the management of a religious shrine by the police official in his official capacity is not against any rules till said police official is performing his official duties properly and due diligence. As submitted earlier, the society chaired by the SSP Roopnagar is taking care of the affairs of the Shrine, only for the reason that the Shrine situates within the boundary wall of Police Station Noorpur Bedi. Prior to filing the present petition, leveling false allegations against the answering society, the petitioner submitted complaints to various authorities leveling similar false allegations. The inquiry into the same was conducted by the then SDM Anandpur Sahib, before whom, the entire record was produced, who after being satisfied with the same, sent his report and as per the inquiry conducted by him, the allegations leveled by the petitioner were found to be false. In this regard also, the petitioner have wrongly putforth that police authorities did not produce the record, which is vehemently denied being incorrect. The act and conduct of the petitioners deserve to be taken a serious view by this Hon''ble Court as it clearly depicts that they have not approached this Hon''ble Court with clean hands and are making the attempt to misled this Hon''ble Court with the malafide intentions to hoodwink the process of law. There are catena of judgments passed by this Hon''ble Court as well as by the Hon''ble Apex Court that whosoever does not approach the Hon''ble Courts of Law with clean hands, is not entitle for any sort of relief. Thus, the present petition filed by the petitioners may kindly be dismissed, on this score aloof.
It is also stated in the reply that accounts of the Society have been put to audit every year.
Be that as it may, to allay any fear of pilferage of the offerings of the shrine, this Court issued following directions on 10.5.2012:
In the meanwhile, income of Peer Baba Zinda Shaheed Society shall be deposited by the SSP, Roop Nagar, in a separate account, which is stated to be already there. We further direct that the account shall not be operated by withdrawing any funds without the permission of the Court. The Deputy Commissioner shall ensure that the funds are deposited in the account and overall supervise the affairs of the Society till further orders. We further clarify that the donation boxes should be opened in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner or his representative in order to avoid any pilferage.
In response to the above order, affidavit of the Deputy Commissioner, Rupnagar has been placed on record wherein it is stated that on account of security reasons, it is not possible to provide separate access to the shrine. Paragraphs No. 3 to 5 of the affidavit read thus:
That after the order dated May 10, 2012 passed by the Hon''ble Court, the donation boxes have been opened twice in the presence of S.D.M. Anandpur Sahib, representative of undersigned and got deposited in to the above said bank account, as per the instructions of the Hon''ble Court.
That the SSP, Rupnagar has reported the monthly expenditure to the tune of Rs. 1.40 lacs (Approx.) for running day to day affairs of the shrine. Huge construction work is also going on for "Langar Hall" and extension of "Darbar Sahib" building and bills pertaining to these constructions are also pending.
That "Mela" is also organized at the shrine in the month of August every year and as per the report of SSP, Rupnagar the amount spent on the said "Mela" was to the tune of Rs. 7,37,791/-last year (August, 2011). This time "Mela" would be held from 16th of August (2012) and the estimated expenditure could be between Rs. 8.00 Lacs at Rs. 9.00 Lacs.
In the light of the above noted submissions, it is respectfully prayed that the regular monthly expenditure for running the daily routine affairs may be allowed and expenditure for the forthcoming "Mela" may also be allowed so that there is no hardship in managing the affairs of the shrine.
It is also brought to our notice that many people from the public have been enrolled as member of the Society, detail of which is given at page 90 of the paper book (Annexure R1). Taking note of the above facts, this writ petition is disposed of with the directions to the Deputy Commissioner, Rupnagar to continue with the arrangement as ordered by this Court on 10.5.2012. It is further directed that for major day-to-day expenses, an intimation be sent by the Senior Superintendent of Police to the Deputy Commissioner who shall have the authority to allow the same after due verification of the purpose for which that is required.