No Ganesha puja at Idgah Maidan: SC says maintain status quo

New Delhi, Aug 30: After a 2-hour late evening hearing, Supreme Court on Tuesday said 'no' to the Ganesh Chaturthi celebration at Idgah Ground in Bengaluru.

The apex court halted the Karnataka government's move to allow the Ganesh Chaturthi celebration at the controversial site and said, "For 200 years it was not done, you also admit, so why not status quo, for 200 years whatever was not held, let it be," the bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee, AS Oka, and MM Sundresh orally remarked as per Bar and Bench.

The court directed the Hindu community to conduct the pooja somewhere else.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court referred the matter to a three-judge bench against the High Court's order allowing Ganesh Chaturthi at Idgah Maidan in Chamarajpet, Bengaluru.

The apex court said that let the matter be placed before the Chief Justice of India as there is no consensus between the two judges hearing the matter.

Last week, the high court granted permission to hold Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at Idgah Maidan in Bengaluru's Chamarajpet.

The high court had said the government can take a call to permit the festival on the ground. The court passed the order after the state government filed an appeal challenging the August 25 interim order to maintain status quo.

The high court modified the interim order and allowed the state government to consider and pass appropriate orders on applications seeking use of the land in question for holding religious and cultural activities for a limited period from August 31 onwards.

The Idgah Maidan is at the centre of a controversy over its ownership with both the waqf board and the city administrative body - the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) - claiming ownership, until it was declared to be the property of the revenue department earlier this month.

Hindu organisations have since been pushing for their festivals to be celebrated at the ground, recently seeking permission to hold the Ganesh Chaturthi festival there.

On Saturday, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai told news agency PTI that the state government will decide on implementing the court order after holding a meeting with the advocate general and the revenue minister.

"The division bench of the high court has given an order regarding Chamrajpet survey number 40 (Idgah Maidan) asking the government to take an appropriate decision, and has analysed how our country is multi-religious. Regarding implementing the court order in letter and spirit, tomorrow the advocate general, revenue minister and I will hold discussions," Bommai told PTI.