Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has stayed, until the next hearing, an order directing the appointment process of a priest representative at Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple to be taken forward. A division bench comprising Justice Subodh Abhyankar and Justice Jai Kumar Pillai heard the appeal filed by Vinayak Sharma and Devendra Sharma through advocate Mudit Maheshwari on Friday.
The appellants challenged the Oct 14, 2026, order of a single bench, which had directed that the process of appointing Mangal Sharma as priest representative be taken forward on the basis of an assurance given by the Ujjain collector. The order was to be complied with within 30 days.
The appellants argued that they were necessary parties to the dispute but were neither included in the original petition nor given an opportunity to be heard.
Vinayak Sharma and Devendra Sharma belong to the hereditary priest family of the late Laxminarayan Sharma. In 2006, Kamal Sharma was appointed as priest, while Devendra Sharma and Pramod Sharma were appointed as priest representatives. After Simhastha 2016, the temple committee decided to increase the number of priest representatives from two to three.
Vinayak Sharma and Mangal Sharma subsequently applied for the post, with Mangal claiming to be the adopted son of Kamal Sharma.
The appellants contended that Mangal was around 28 to 29 years old at the time of the alleged adoption, whereas Section 10 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, bars adoption of a person above 15 years of age. The dispute over his adoption is also pending before a civil court.
They further argued that the order forming the basis of Mangal's proposed appointment was passed by only two temple committee members, against the required quorum of three under the MP Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple Act, 1982. They questioned the collector's assurance to implement the order within a month.
