Overview
- After the court signaled disinclination to intervene, petitioner Darpan Awasthi withdrew his plea with liberty to submit a representation to the competent authorities.
- A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi observed the issue was not justiciable and cautioned that applying Article 14 inside the sanctum could invite claims to other fundamental rights.
- The appeal challenged the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s August 28, 2025 order upholding administrative discretion on entry, arguing the 1982 Adhiniyam confers no power to create a VIP category and that Articles 14 and 25 are violated.
- The petition cited RTI-obtained 2023 committee resolutions allowing ‘State Guests, VIPs and VVIPs’ into the garbhagriha on orders of the district collector or committee chair, and it sought interim curbs on such permissions.
- The hearing followed recent Supreme Court scrutiny of private pujas in the Banke Bihari matter, yet the court in this case declined to regulate who may enter the sanctum.