The Madhya Pradesh High Court Bar Association has objected to Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait's alleged removal of a Hanuman shrine from his official residential enclosure, Bar and Bench reported on Thursday.
The attorneys' group, in a letter dated December 23, wrote to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, requesting a probe into Kait's alleged action, which it saw as an insult to followers of Sanatan Dharma, a synonym for Hinduism.
The previous chief justices of the High Court, who were Muslim, had not opposed the shrine, the group claimed. They further stated that the official housing was government property and that the temple was regularly maintained with government funds “because most of the Chief Justice and employees who believe in Sanatan Dharma have been living in the bungalow”.
“Therefore, they do not have to waste their precious time by going far away to perform their religious worship, hence the said temple is a very important means to make life happy, peaceful and beautiful,” the bar body said to Khanna, Scroll.in reported.
Dhanya Kumar Jain, President of the Madhya Pradesh High Court Bar Association, told the Bar and Bench that Kait's Buddhist beliefs could have influenced his actions.
“It’s good that the judge follows Buddhism,” Kumar said. “We have no issue with that. But removing a temple like this is not right.”
The bar association's letter also expresses concern over the move's impact on a court matter in which a lawyer has requested the removal of all temples from Madhya Pradesh police stations.
The letter requested that Kait recuse himself from the matter.
In September, the Supreme Court Collegium suggested Suresh Kumar Kait, a senior judge of the Delhi High Court, to be Madhya Pradesh's chief justice.