CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has asked the state government to file an affidavit giving details of the status of settlement of disputes over record of rights (RoR) entries of Ekharajat Mahal lands of Lord Jagannath.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Chittaranjan Dash passed the order recently on a PIL filed by the Jatni-based Purbatana Ekharajat Mahal Raiyat Surakhya Committee.
The court’s direction came while examining the committee’s plea concerning RoR entries relating to Ekharajat Mahal lands historically associated with Lord Jagannath. Senior advocate Lalatendu Samantaray appeared for the petitioner.
The PIL primarily concerns 36 villages that were left out after the government undertook an exercise to correct RoR entries relating to land recorded in the name of Lord Jagannath. The court noted that the exercise had already been completed in 120 villages but no justification had been placed before it for leaving the remaining 36 villages out.
Ekharajat Mahal refers to historic estate lands whose revenues were traditionally earmarked for meeting the daily ritual and other expenses of the Shree Jagannath Temple at Puri. The estate comprised 156 villages under the erstwhile Tapanga Pragana and Rameswar areas, largely covering present-day Khurda and Jatni regions. Raiyats have traditionally lived on, cultivated and paid revenue for these lands over generations.
The bench noted that the issue had been raised in earlier litigation and that, according to an earlier order, the government had constituted a Special Revisional Court to adjudicate disputes concerning RoR entries on a camp basis. “The counsel appearing for the State is unable to apprise us as to whether the said Revisional Court is still functional or operational there at,” the bench observed.
During settlement exercises between 2000 and 2012, tenant rights were recorded in 120 villages. However, the petitioner claimed that the lands in remaining 36 villages were recorded in the name of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, affecting the ability of generations of residents to transact in the properties.
The Jagannath Temple administration argued that the Shree Jagannath Temple Act, 1955, provides a forum for aggrieved persons to pursue their claims. The court directed the government to file an affidavit within two weeks clarifying whether the Special Revisional Court remains operational.
It also directed the petitioner to serve an additional copy of the PIL on the Lord Jagannath administration. The matter has been posted for October 14.
