The Karnataka government appointed retired IAS officer PS Vastrad as the administrator of the controversy-hit Murugharajendra Matha in Chitradurga on Tuesday, 13 December.
The government move did not go down well with the interim chief of the matha, Basavaprabhu Swami. He wanted Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to withdraw the decision that has “disappointed lakhs of devotees”.
“Even now, it’s not late. We request the chief minister to withdraw the appointment of the administrator so that the GPA (General Power of Attorney) holders and committee members can effectively manage the matha’s administration,” he said while speaking to South First.
Incidentally, he asserted that he was addressing the chief minister and not the government.
The story so far
The government appointed the administrator suspecting misappropriation of the matha’s assets and finances and misuse of administration.
The matha has been in the thick of controversy after its head pontiff, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, was arrested on 1 September, on two separate charges of sexually harassing minor girls. The girls were residing in the matha’s Akkamahadevi Hostel.
Basavaprabhu Swami took over as the interim chief of the matha after the arrest of the highly influential head pontiff. He has been trying to prevent the government from appointing an administrator ever since he took charge.
The administrator was appointed based on a report by the Chitradurga deputy commissioner and the recommendation of the advocate general of Karnataka.
Basavaprabhu’s arguments
Interim chief Basavaprabhu Swami viewed the appointment of Vastrad as the administrator as unnecessary.
“There has not been a single complaint from any of the employees, servants, staff members or students of the Murugha Matha. Everything has been going on well. The financial management is transparent,” he told South First.
Basavaprabhu had earlier tried to pre-empt the appointment of an administrator. The seer, along with the matha’s committee members had earlier approached Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and requested him not to appoint any administrator.
The committee appointed a retired judge SB Vasthramath as the administrator for the matha-run educational institutions, the Vidya Peeta, and Basavaprabhu took over the reins of the administration.
The matha has around 3,000 employees in its 150 institutions, including around 80 educational institutions across the country.
Why an administrator?
The matha has been registered as a public trust. The Chitradurga deputy commissioner recently submitted a report to the state government stating that the matha’s assets, including immovable properties, were at stake and raised doubts over the financial management.
The report raised apprehensions about the chances of misuse and misappropriation of finances. It also did not rule out the chances of others usurping the matha’s properties.
The district official also pointed out the difficulties in managing the matha’s assets, and the functioning of the educational institutions.
According to the matha’s rules, the chief pontiff, Murugha Sharanaru, is the lifetime head seer of the matha and also the lifetime president of educational institutions.
To safeguard the matha and its assets, the advocate general of Karnataka also recommended the appointment of an administrator in the public interest and for the smooth functioning of the matha’s administration.
“To protect the trust’s property, under Article 162 of the Indian Constitution, the advocate general has recommended that an administrator could be appointed for the matha,” the government order appointing the administrator, read.
The order signed by the Deputy Secretary (Revenue) TC Kantharaj said that PS Vastrad has been appointed as the administrator of the matha with immediate effect.
