In another bid to cut the power of the King following the success of the popular movement of the country, the government is mulling to appoint the prime minister as patron of the Pashupati Area Development Trust Act (PADT) in place of the King.

Pashupatinath temple (File Photo)

Pashupatinath temple (File Photo)
Reports quoted minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Pradip Gyawali as saying that the government informed the Parliamentary Public Account Committee about the government’s plan.

Minister Gyawali also said the Queen would be replaced by Culture Minister as the Trust’s chairperson, reports the Kantipur daily.

The reinstated House of Representatives deprived the King from all royal prerogatives through the historic proclamation.

The PAC also formed a five-member panel headed by Shiva Bahadur Deuja to investigate the controversy over misuse of the Pashupati Temple property.

According to the chairman Chitra Bahadur KC of the PAC, the committee will probe into all the anomalies, financial state of the temple and fund collected as offerings by devotees.

He said the new statute may remove a clause that gives exclusive right to a particular caste of a particular place to become mul bhatta (chief priest) of the Temple.