The Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh is said to have a valid reason to challenge the reinstatement of senior Telugu Desam Party leader and former Union minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju as the chairman of Maharaja Alak Narayan Society of Arts and Science (MANSAS) Trust in Vizianagaram by the state high court.
Though it has been 10 days since the high court gave the judgement removed Sanchaiata Gajapathi Raju as the chairperson of MANSAS Trust and reappointed Ashok Gajapathi Raju, the Jagan government could not take any decision on challenging the verdict before the division bench.
Initially, the YSRC government tried to raise the issues of alleged irregularities and lack of forensic audit in the trust to stall Ashok’s reinstatement, legal experts reportedly suggested that they would not stand before the law.
So, the government was trying to look for some strong reasons to challenge the high court verdict.
According to latest reports, the government is examining the Supreme Court judgement on Sabarimala Devaswom Trust Board issue in Kerala, questioning the gender bias in the darshan of Lord Ayyappa.
The comments made by Andhra Pradesh Mahila Commission chairperson Vasireddy Padma on Wednesday lends credence to this latest thinking by the Jagan government to challenge Ashok’s reinstatement.
Padma pointed out to several judgements of various high courts and that of Supreme Court on Sabarimala issue, opposing the gender bias in the endowment trusts and temples.
She asked the government to take action in the MANSAS Trust issue, too, based on this gender bias.
The high court struck down the appointment of Sanchaita on the ground that the trust rules clearly mentioned about appointment of only male descendants of the Pusapati royal family as the head of the trust.
“This is nothing but a clear gender bias towards males. Why can’t women family members take over the trust? The government can appeal against the court verdict on this. It can even sack Ashok Gajapathi Raju on this rule,” Padma said.
Now, the Jagan government is likely to challenge this very rule stating that the trust rules were clearly against women descendants.
Let us wait and see how the issue takes the turn.
