Bengaluru: In the wake of video evidence exposing financial mismanagement, the historic Gali Anjaneya Swamy temple in Bengaluru has been taken over by the Muzrai Department.

Challenging this move, the temple’s management board had filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court seeking a stay order.

However, Justice Sunil Dutt Yadav’s bench has refused to grant an injunction, observing that the government’s action does not appear to be prima facie wrong given allegations of fund misuse.

The state government has now brought the administration of the temple under its control. Henceforth, officials from the Religious Endowment (Muzrai) Department will oversee temple affairs. Left with no other option, the temple’s board had approached the court, but the HC’s refusal has come as a setback for the trust.

An executive officer, Narayanaswamy, has already assumed charge of the temple’s administration. Meanwhile, villagers and trustees have condemned the move, claiming it is unjust to strip them of the management that has been in their families for generations. They argue that they have dedicated years to the temple’s development and feel betrayed by the government’s takeover.