India, April 20 -- New Delhi

The Supreme Court-appointed high-powered committee (HPC) overseeing the management of Mathura's Bankey Bihari temple has defended a series of sweeping reforms, led by the discontinuation of VIP darshan slips and a restructuring of temple timings, as necessary measures to ensure safety, fairness and orderly access for the surging number of devotees visiting the shrine.

In a detailed status report filed before the Supreme Court, the committee asserted that the decision to scrap the VIP darshan system was taken unanimously and was aimed at ending preferential access that allowed a select few to bypass queues. The committee said that the practice was incompatible with equitable access to the deity and had to be ...