India, June 30 -- The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea that sought handing over exclusive control of the Mahabodhi temple in Bihar's Bodh Gaya to Buddhists, and asked the petitioner to approach the high court.

The plea, filed by lawyer and former Maharashtra minister Sulekha Narayan Kumbhare, challenged the constitutional validity of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act, 1949, which entrusted a nine-member committee with the temple's management, of which a majority are Hindus.

Refusing to entertain the petition, a bench of justices MM Sundresh and K Vinod Chandran, said, "How can we issue mandamus? You please approach the high court. This is not maintainable under Article 32."

The petition claimed that the management of the Maha...