HC bars Shirdi temple trust from policy decisions

September 22, 2021 20:04

The police in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district have arrested six persons for allegedly defaming the chairman and a member of Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST) committee by sharing CCTV footage of their inspection at the temple in Shirdi and passing it off as a COVID-19 violation, an official said on Wednesday.

According to the police, the accused had shared photos, CCTV footage and content about the chairman and committee member's administrative visit to the temple with YouTube media channels and tried to pass it off as a COVID-19 violation.

The principal district and sessions judge of Ahmednagar is the chairman of the temple committee, while the assistant charity commissioner is a member of the trust.

The police on Tuesday arrested Rajendra Jagtap, an administrative officer of the temple trust, Vinod Kote, in-charge of the temple's CCTV department, temple trust employee Chetak Sable, Ajit Jagtap, an office-bearer of temple trust's employee's society and Sachin Gavhane and Rahul Funde, both part-time employees of the trust, the official said.

A case has been registered against the accused under sections 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory), 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant) and other relevant provisions of the IPC, Information Technology Act and Officials Secrets Act, he said.

The trust committee chairman and the member had visited the temple for an inspection on July 31, he said.

"The accused shared some photos and CCTV footage of the chairman and member conducting an inspection near Saibaba Samadhi Mandir with some YouTube portal journalists and passed the visit off as a COVID-19 violation," the official said.

By sharing the photos and CCTV footage, the accused had spread misleading and defamatory content alleging that while the temple had been closed for common people due to the pandemic, the chairman and member of the trust committee were allowed to enter the temple for 'darshan', he said.

The accused were produced before a court, which has remanded them to police custody till September 25.

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