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| SMVD devotees file PIL against Municipal Committee Katra | | |
JAMMU, March 28
Over a hundred Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji (SMVD) devotees today filed a writ petition in the shape of Public Interest Litigation seeking quashing letter dated January 6 last, authorizing the Municipal Committee Katra to charge tax/commission from the yatries.
In the PIL filed through Advocate Rajiv Sharma it has been submitted that the petitioners are devotees of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji visit the shrine almost every month. They have very much interest in the proper management of the affairs of the Shrine because more than 60 lakh of yatries visit the holy shrine every year It has also been submitted in the petition that a petition titled ‘Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Katra Vs state of J&K and Ors’ is pending in the State High Court.
It has been alleged in the petition that the Municipal Committee Katra is not performing its duties properly and is charging taxes exorbitantly from the pilgrims, who have no other alternative but to pay the same. On one hand the municipal committee, the pithuwallas, ponywalas and palkiwalas are charging excessively and on the other hand there is no body to listen to the grievances of the petitioners and other yatries. A number of complaints were made to the authorities, but of no avail and it appears that Municipal Committee is interested only in collecting taxes and has no control over pithuwallas etc and there is no authority to regulate and control the charges of remunerations from yatries, the petitioners said. It has been further alleged in the petition that because of the inaction on the part of municipal committee Katra, it has been using all illegal means to exploit the yatries and collect taxes from them without providing the requisite facilities.
The devotees in their petition have prayed before the Court to issue directions to the respondents to provide proper facilities to yatries visiting Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji, pitus, ponies, palkiwallas, porter etc and to regulate their services and restrain them to go on illegal strikes and also seeking quashment of letter dated January 6, 2006 authorizing the municipal committee to charge tax/commissions from yatries. |
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