CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court disposed of without passing any order a PIL dating back to 1999 on properties of Lord Lingaraj in Bhubaneswar after finding that a committee formed by the State government 18 years back has been taking action for removal of encroachments.
The division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice AK Mohapatra on Monday said that in the current circumstances, it is open for the petitioner to provide details regarding encroachers - not already proceeded against - to the committee to enable it to take action forthwith.
The committee was constituted under the chairmanship of the Secretary of Law department on August 12, 2003. The other members of the committee included the commissioner of Endowments, chairman of Shri Lingaraj Temple Trust Board, executive officer of Lingaraj temple and Bhubaneswar tehsildar. The panel was expected to review the actual position of different lands belonging to Lord Lingaraj under the occupation of different persons, to suggest remedies against such illegal occupation, regularise possession of the authorised lease holders so as to make the land of the deity profitable and beneficial to the temple administration.
The bench said that if the petitioner at all has those details as of now, it would be open for him to furnish them to the committee not later than February 1, 2022. The committee will then examine the details and forward it to the Commissioner of Endowment as well as the Collector, Khurda, for action in accordance with the law. “No further directions are called for either in the PIL of 1999 or the companion PIL of 2014, which concerns the same issue”, the bench said.
The PILs had expressed concern that properties of the deity had been encroached by land grabbers. Formation of a commission to inquire into the details of the properties of Lord Lingaraj was also sought.
The Court disposed of the PIL after taking note of affidavits and additional affidavits filed by authorities concerned. The last affidavit was filed by the Principal Secretary, Law department, on October 26, 2016.
On September 30, 2014, the Law department had issued a letter to the executive officer of Lingaraj temple instructing him to take immediate steps for recovery of immovable property belonging to Lord Lingaraj.
PROBE STATUS
Total 157 cases of land encroachment filed
12 cases - physical possession of land handed over to temple admin
62 cases - tehsildars facing difficulty in acquiring encroached land
45 cases - orders of Commissioner of Endowment challenged in courts