Hyderabad: A division bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar of the AP High Court has directed the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams to produce details of the number of VIP passes issued for darshan of Lord Venkateswara on the eve of Vaikunta Ekadasi on January 11. Issuing the order on Monday, the Bench also directed the TTD to place the resolution regarding issue of passes to VIPs for break darshan on important occasions before the court.
The Bench was dealing with a PIL by TD leader Talasani Srinivasa Yadav seeking a direction to order a probe into the incidents at Tirumala on Vaikunta Ekadasi on January 11. He alleged that TTD authorities had failed in providing minimum facilities to ordinary devotees on the auspicious day as they were busy attending to VIPs who had already occupied the prime area of the temple much before darshan time. He also alleged that TTD had extended break darshan to persons who were not VIPs.
Taking serious exception to the TTD’s decision that police cases would be registered against the pilgrims who protested, he sought intervention of the court. The Bench wanted to know whether the petitioner was also one of the victims who had faced hardships on the day.
The petitioner’s counsel replied in the negative, and the Bench asked how could he then move court. The counsel said that the petitioner was a former minister and his relatives who were at Tirumala on Vaikunta Ekadasi, had faced severe hardships.
The Bench said that it would hear the case only if the petitioner agreed to publish in three leading newspapers, at his own cost, an advertisement inviting the victims to join the case as parties.
The petitioner agreed and the Bench directed the TTD to place records before the court.
The Bench also told the petitioner to deposit the cost of the advertisements and name the publications that could reach the devotees in Karnataka, TN and AP as most pilgrims were from these states on that day. The case was adjourned for three weeks.
