BHUBANESWAR: The commissioner Consolidation, under the Board of Revenue, has set aside a disputed land record involving 28.84 acre valuable land belonging to Shree Jagannath temple in Puri and directed that it be recorded in the name of Shree Jagannath Mahaprabhu Bije, Puri, through the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee.
The order was pronounced in an OSS revision case by Consolidation commissioner Prabir Kumar Nayak. Located in Shankarpur mouza under Puri tehsil and adjacent to Omkareshwar temple, the land has an estimated market value of over Rs 600 crore. It is located right next to the national highway.
Officials said the dispute dates back to the initial Sabik settlement of 1962-63, when the then Mahanta had gifted the land for the benefit of Lord Jagannath and requested the settlement authorities to record it in the deity’s name.
Accordingly, the Sabik Record of Rights (RoR) published in 1977 recorded the property in the name of Shree Jagannath Mahaprabhu Bije, Puri, through the Uttar Parswa Math Endowment Trust Board. The land was also initially recorded in the deity’s name in the consolidation land register.
However, the records were subsequently altered following an order passed by the additional sub-collector, Puri, on June 18, 2010. The land was transferred in the revenue records in favour of the Mahanta, allegedly without informing the temple administration. Within just 26 days, the deity’s name was removed from the records. A subsequent patta was also issued in the Mahanta’s name in 2013.
Challenging the alteration, the temple administration filed OSS revision case (case no - 303/2016) before the Consolidation commissioner. Representing the temple administration, advocate Ambika Prasad Mishra cited historical land records and judicial precedents to establish the deity’s ownership.
In the order, the Consolidation commissioner observed that the original records clearly established the land’s ownership in favour of Lord Jagannath. The authority also found serious procedural irregularities in the 2010 proceedings, particularly the failure to issue notices to the temple administration and the Endowment commissioner, thereby denying them an opportunity to present their case.
The order further noted that the earlier Mahantas had never challenged the original gift or the Sabik records during their lifetime. Holding that the subsequent alteration violated the principles of natural justice, the commissioner set aside the disputed final Record of Rights and allowed the revision petition.
The court also noticed real estate development on the land. It directed the tehsildar, Puri, to record the land in favour of Shree Jagannath Mahaprabhu Bije, Puri, through the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee.
The Board of Revenue has, in the recent weeks, has delivered a series of orders restoring crucial land belonging to Lord Jagannath while placing valuable land parcels back in government records.