Udupi : Vishva Vijaya, the former junior seer of Pejawar Mutt, filed a case against Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Paryaya Pejawar Mutt and seers of the other seven mutts, demanding a written constitution for the ‘Ashta Mutts’ or eight mutts of Udupi, at a civil court here on Monday.

Vishva Vijaya said there had been a lot of “differences and non-cooperation” between the Ashta Mutts’ seers in the recent years. These differences had come out in the open during the biennial Paryaya festival. This amounted to “disrespect” to the objectives of the exponent of Dwaita philosophy, Sri Madhwacharya, who established these mutts about 800 years ago, he said. A written constitution was needed to maintain harmony among the Ashta Mutts. Such a constitution should also include issues related to tradition, conduct of the seers and cultural aspects, he said.

Vishva Vijaya said that as the then junior seer of Pejawar Mutt, when he had crossed the seas (‘sagarolangana’) and gone to the U.S. in 1987, Sugunendra Tirtha of Puttige Mutt made an issue of it. This led to his abdication of his seat. Later, Puttige seer himself visited foreign countries and continued to hold his position as the head of the mutt. “Should there not be a single law or principle for all Astha Mutts?” he asked. He sent a legal notice demanding a written and registered constitution for the governance of the Ashta Mutts on January 4, 2016 to all heads of the Ashta Mutts. But none had replied. Hence, through his advocate, K.S.N. Rajesh, he filed a suit in the civil court. He has no personal agenda in this legal battle with the Ashta Mutts, Vishva Vijaya said.

Vishwesha Tirtha Swami told presspersons that he would not comment as the matter was in court. So far, he had not received the notice, he said. After receiving the notice, he said he would hold a meeting of all seers on the issue of the constitution.