The administration of the historic Hatkeshwar Mahadev Temple in Vadnagar has been taken over by the Gujarat government after the Mehsana In-charge Charity Commissioner declared the current trustees illegal and ordered their removal. The Deputy Charity Commissioner has been appointed as the administrator to manage the temple affairs.
Following the order, officials from the Charity Commissioner’s office, accompanied by police personnel, reached the temple in the early hours of the morning and formally took charge of the administration. Authorities said some existing trustees had locked the office and other rooms before leaving the premises, but officials proceeded with the takeover.
The dispute over the temple’s management had been pending for several years before the Charity Commissioner’s court. Temple chief priest Jayantbhai K. Pandya and other petitioners had alleged that trustees who were not appointed according to the trust’s constitution had been running the temple and mismanaging its affairs for decades.
A petition highlighting the alleged irregularities was filed by local residents, following which the Joint Charity Commissioner ordered the removal of the trustees and appointed an administrator. The court reportedly observed that the current trustees had not assumed office through a legally valid process.
Advocate Jay Pandya, representing the petitioners, said the order ends what he described as an illegal administration that had continued since 1993 in the Hatkeshwar Mahadev Trust.
Deputy Charity Commissioner V. N. Vasava stated that no legally recognised trustee had existed in the trust’s official records since 1993 and that a long-standing dispute between rival groups had complicated the management of the temple.
Officials said attempts were made to contact the trustees before the takeover, but when there was no response, copies of the order were served at their residences.
The trustees have been directed to appear at the trust office on June 15 for further proceedings. Until a new board of trustees is elected through the prescribed process within six months, the temple will remain under the administration of the Charity Commissioner’s office with police protection.