The High Court of Bombay at Goa has cleared the decks for counting of votes pertaining to the election of a new managing committee for Shree Ramnath Damodar Saunsthan, Zambaulim.
A dispute had arisen after the removal of 2352 mahazans, out of a total of 3084, from the list of mahazans entitled to vote for constituting a managing committee for the Saunsthan.
The 2352 mahazans were removed from the list on grounds that they were not permanent residents of Goa and referred to as non-Goans.
The non-Goan mazahans are essentially original mahazans of the Saunsthan who migrated outside Goa in the 16th century to escape religious persecution under Portuguese rule.
Election of managing committee
While hearing the case, the High Court in March, this year, had allowed the non-Goan mazahans to cast their votes separately in different ballot boxes, which were sealed until final disposal of the petition.
A managing committee is elected every three years and in the past, the non-Goan mazahans were allowed to vote.
Tracing the origin of the issue, the division bench comprising R N Laddha and M S Sonak, in their order noted that until December 2020, there was no dispute or controversy over the list of mahazans.
In December, 2020, the managing committee prepared a list of mahazans entitled to vote for the election of a managing committee scheduled in March 2021. This list comprised all 3084 mahazans — those living in Goa and outside Goa.
Lodging objections
On January 30, 2021, Raunak Kamat Bambolkar and Nishad Hegde Dessai lodged their objections to inclusion of non-Goan mahazans in the voting list.
The managing committee and the general body of mahazans rejected the objections filed by Nishad and Raunak, who took their dispute before the administrative tribunal.
The High Court noted that although Raunak and Nishad applied for deletion of 2352 non-Goan mahazans, not a single one of them was impleaded as respondents before the tribunal. “The entire attempt was perhaps to secure some orders behind the backs of such so-called non-Goan mahazans”.
Tribunal order misinterpreted
Initially, the managing committee opposed the claim made by Nishad and Raunak. The committee justified the inclusion of non-Goan mahazans in the list before the tribunal and prayed that the appeal be dismissed with costs.
However, sometime in September 2021, the managing committee of the temple began to sing a different song, the HC noted.
The tribunal was persuaded to make an order on the basis of which the names of 2352 non-Goan mahazans were deleted. The deletion was solely on the ground that the mahazans were not permanent residents of Goa. The HC observed that the tribunal order was misinterpreted.
The tribunal was persuaded to make an order on the basis of which the names of 2352 non-Goan mahazans were deleted. The deletion was solely on the ground that the mahazans were not permanent residents of Goa. The HC observed that the tribunal order was misinterpreted.
Respondents' arguments rejected
The non-Goan mahazans appealed to the High Court and on January 1, 2022 the HC set aside the list with deleted names and restored the case before the tribunal for reconsideration.
It was expected that all parties to the dispute would pursue the appeal before the tribunal, instead, the managing committee ordered the secretary to notify the list with deleted names, which was published in newspapers.
This brought the petitioners back to the High Court.
Rejecting all arguments by the respondents, the HC restored the right of non-Goan mahazans and directed the mamlatdar to open the ballot boxes, count the votes and declare the results.