Bombay HC To Hear Vile Parle Jain Temple Demolition Case, Temple Trust Seeks Permission For Temporary Shed Construction

Mumbai: The Jain community has its fingers crossed as the Bombay High Court will hear the appeal against the demolition of Vile Parle Digambar Jain Temple on Wednesday. The temple trust is planning to seek permission to construct an overhead shed and seek more time to file an amended application.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been alleged of illegally demolishing the 90-year-old 1008 Parshvanath Digambar Jain Temple located in Vile Parle’s Kambliwadi.

The civic body is accused of rushing to demolish the temple before the High Court could hear the stay appeal against demolition. The Free Press Journal reported the issue first and has been consistently following up the matter.

The temple was demolished after the city civil court dismissed the temple trust’s appeal against the demolition on April 8 but gave an oral stay for a week to allow the petitioner to approach the High Court.

However, the trust has accused BMC of carrying out the demolition on April 16 before their appeal could be heard. However, the High Court ordered the BMC on April 17 to stop the demolition until the next hearing, scheduled on April 30.

The Jain community marked a strong protest against the temple’s demolition through a protest rally in Vile Parle, which led to the assistant municipal commissioner’s transfer. While a fraction of the community felt a sense of contentment with the official’s transfer, a large part of the community is eyeing the High Court hearing with the hope that it will allow the temple’s reconstruction at the same place.

The community had demanded the restoration of the electricity connection and an overhead shed above the idols. While the BMC allowed electricity connection, the construction of a temporary shed will be decided by the high court. The temple trust will also seek more time from the court to file an amended application based on the civil court’s order.

Talking to The Free Press Journal, the temple’s trustee Anil Shah said, “Although the civil court’s judgement was passed on April 8, we received the detailed order only two days back. We will seek more time to file an amended application on the basis of the detailed order. Till then, we hope to construct a temporary shed above the idols.”