Nagpur, Jul 19: The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly today passed a bill that enables the state government to take control of the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district. The bill was cleared by the Lower House in the wee hours.

The state government had last month decided to enact a legislation allowing it to take control of the Shani temple with a view to making the Temple Trust administration more encompassing, transparent and also to provide better amenities to devotees.

The famous temple located in Shingnapur village is devoted to Lord Shani, believed to be the personification of planet Saturn. The temple doesn't have an idol but a stone in its sanctum area. According to the government, it had received complaints about the alleged irregularities by previous members of the temple trust.