New Delhi: Despite Uttarakhand Forest Department officials not granting permission, preparations for the wedding of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Uttarakhand cabinet minister Khajan Das were allegedly carried out inside the core zone of Rajaji Tiger Reserve (RTR) at Sureshwari Devi temple, reported Times of India.The incident has raised concerns over alleged violations of forest and wildlife norms, with the state Forest Department registering a case against the temple committee under provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.Earlier, on Saturday (April 25), materials including a pandal, a stage, coolers and generators were brought into the reserve area which is an ecologically sensitive zone housing elephants, tigers and leopards, along with other animals and bird species, reported TOI.“No permission had been granted for such an event. After receiving information about it, the tents and other arrangements were removed on Sunday,” Ajay Lingwal, the warden of Haridwar forest range under RTR, told the newspapers.Despite no permission, the wedding rituals were allowed to be conducted inside the temple.When confronted, Ashish Marwari, general secretary of Ma Sureshwari Devi temple committee, said, “Wedding rituals of minister Khajan Das’s son were intended to be conducted in a simple way. Tents and other arrangements were made considering the heat. The forest department officials were also informed about this.”Marwari claimed that there had been no mistake on part of the temple committee and they would soon respond to the case.Minister Das, who at present holds the social welfare portfolio in the state government said he had been visiting the temple for several years and also attributed his recovery from an illness to the deity’s blessings. He added that it is because of this reason that he wished for his son’s wedding to take place at the temple. Das claimed that he was not informed that formal permission was required.“A request was made to the temple committee and there were also discussions with forest officials, who agreed to the programme. We only intended to perform simple rituals and formalise the wedding,” said Das.Senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers in the Forest Department confirmed that no written permission was sought for the event, said the TOI report.