The main legal point established in the judgment is the autonomy of the Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board in managing religious affairs and welfare matters connected with the Yatra, as conferred by the Jammu and Kashmir Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Act 2000.

1. The Holy Shrine of Shri Amarnath Ji is considered to be one of the Lord Shivas abode situate in the Himalayan Region in the South of Kashmir Valley. It is a common belief amongst the Hindus that Lord Shiva is one of the three Supreme Gods of Universe Brahmaha, Vishnoo, and Shiva. It is a natural Shrine in the shape of a Cave. It is also believed that Lord Shiva emerges in the form of an "Ice Lingam" inside the Cave alongwith structures of Parvati and Shri Ganesha.

2. The pilgrimage to the Wholly Shrine of Shri Amaranth is an annual feature and starts on Vyas Poornima and concludes on the day of Sharavan Rakhi Poornima. The Shrine is situate at an altitude of 3888 Mts.. The approach to the Holy Cave is from the traditional route Via Pehalgam- Chandanwari-Pissu Ghati- Sheshnag- Panjtarni. The distance of track from Chandanwari is 32 Kms. The other route is Via Sonamarg, which is popularly known as Baltal route. It starts from Baltal which is base of the Amarnath Yatra. It goes from Baltal to Brari Marg, Sangam and Cave. The distance from Baltal to Cave is about 16 Kms. The terrain being hilly and snow bound, the pilgrimage to the Shrine is considered to be tough, particularly from Baltal route which though shorter in length is narrower and even dangerous at places. The nature exhibits its glory and scenic beauty on both the routes.

3. The number of pilgrims visiting to the Holy Shrine upto 1990 was hardly 5000 or so. However, in the last decade the Shrine has attracted the pilgrims not only from India but even from abroad. The area being hilly and snowbound weather remains un-certain. Some times vagaries of weather can create worst climatic conditions. In the past certain incidents of un-favourable weather conditions have taken a toll of large number of pilgrims.

4. The Holy Shrine was being managed by a section of Hindu Sect and (Muslim) Shepherds of the local area. However, in the year 2000, the State legislature enacted an Act namely, "The Jammu and Kashmir Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Act 2000", for the better and effective management of Shri Amarnathji Yatra and up-gradation of facilities for pilgrims. This Act was enforced vide SRO 54 dated 12-2-2001 w.e.f. 21-2-2001. Under this Act the entire management, administration and governance of Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine vests with a Board namely, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board as constituted under section 4 of the Act. The Board comprises of a Chairman, and not more than 10 members. His Excellency the Governor of State of Jammu and Kashmir, if a Hindu is an ex-officio Chairman of the Board and if a non-Hindu he has to nominate an eminent person of the State professing Hindu religion and otherwise qualified to be a Member to function as the Chairman of the Board. Amongst members of the Board are- two persons, who in the opinion of the Governor, have distinguished themselves in the service of Hindu religion or culture; two women, who in the opinion of the Governor have distinguished themselves in the service of Hindu religion, or culture or social work, especially in regard to advancement of women; three persons who have distinguished themselves in administration, legal affairs or financial matters and two eminent Hindus of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The Act also prescribes dis-qualification for the members as enumerated under section 7 of the Act. As far as the duties of the Board are concerned, the same are prescribed under section 16 of the Act.

5. The Board is also conferred with the power to make bye-laws for purposes of carrying out the provisions of the Act in terms of section 21 of the Act. Financial resource of the Board is the `Board Fund created under section 18 of the Act.

6. The petitioner in the present case is an Advocate by profession and claims to be the President of Social and Religious Organization known as "Punjab Shiv Sewa Samiti, Rajpura District Patiala, Punjab". The organization to which the petitioner belongs is said to be organizing annual pilgrimage to the Holy

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