Prashanta Kumar Mishra vs State Of Odisha And Others

The present petition which was filed as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) way back in 1999 concerns the properties of the Lord Shri Shri Lingaraj Mahaprabhu Bije at Bhubaneswar District Khurda. The specific concern expressed in the PIL was that the properties of the Deity had come under the gaze of 'land encroachers/grabbers' and that the Sevayats/Marfatdars and office bearers of the Trust Board "have alienated such properties of the Deity for their personal gain ignoring the interest of the Deity and violating the law."

One of the prayers was that a Commission should be set up to enquire into the details of the properties of the Deity and that the Commission should be asked to furnish its report to the Court within a stipulated time.

An affidavit was filed on 26th October, 2016 by the Principal Secretary, Law Department, Government of Odisha stating that on 12th August, 2003 a Committee had been constituted under the Chairmanship of the Secretary to Government, Law Department with the other members of the Committee being the Commissioner of Endowments (CoE), Odisha, Chairman of Shri Lingaraj Temple Trust Board, Executive Officer of Shri Lingaraj Temple and the Tahasildar, Bhubaneswar. The object of the Committee was 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; regularize possession of the authorized lease holders so as to make the land of the Deity profitable and beneficial to the administration of the institution.

Annexure-A to the aforementioned affidavit is a list of encroachers with Mouza numbers. Annexure-B is a copy of the letter dated 30th September, 2014 issued by the Law Department to the Executive Officer, Lord Lingaraj Temple Office instructing him to take immediate steps for recovery of immovable property belonging to Lord Lingaraj.

The affidavit also refers to the deliberations at the meeting of the Committee held on 29th August, 2016. A further affidavit has been filed by the Collector, Khurda filed on 1st November, 2016 stating that 145 OA cases have been forwarded to the Collector by the CoE for implementation of orders relating to the land of Lord Lingaraj. Of the 145 cases, 111 cases were sent to the concerned Tahasildars for compliance. 34 cases were stated to be pending due to the pendency of the cases in various Courts and steps are being taken at the level of Tahasildars for compliance of the orders within 60 days. A copy of the 'instructive letter' has also been enclosed.

A further additional affidavit was filed by the Collector, Khurda on 1st December, 2016 enclosing the list of 157 cases communicated to the Collector, Khurda by the CoE under Section 25 of the Odisha Hindu Religious Endowments Act, 1951 (OHRE Act). It is pointed out that out of the said 157 cases, orders have been passed by the Collector in 79 cases with directions to the Tahasildar, Bhubaneswar to handover physical possession to the Temple authorities. The details of the 79 cases were enclosed as Annexure-B thereto.

The list of 12 cases in which physical possession has already been handed over of the land in question to the Temple authorities is given as Annexure-C. The list of 62 cases where difficulties have been faced by the Tahasildar in delivering physical possession is at Annexure-D. Annexure-E is the list of 45 cases where orders of the CoE have been challenged in different Courts. 33 were still under adjudication of Collector, Khurda with list as Annexure-F. The CoE has filed a separate affidavit giving the same details on the same date.

It is seen from the above affidavits and additional affidavits that the Committee in question has been taking action for removal of illegal encroachments. In those circumstances, it would be open to the Petitioner, if he has details regarding any other encroachers not already proceeded against, to provide those details to the Committee to enable it to take action forthwith. If the Petitioner at all has those details as of now, it would be open to him to furnish them to the Committee not later than 1st February, 2022. The Committee will then examine those details and forward it to the CoE as well as the Collector, Khurda for further appropriate action in accordance with law. No further directions are called for either in the present petition i.e. OJC No.3804 of 1999 or the companion W.P.(C) PIL No.9745 of 2014, which concerns the same issue. Both the writ petitions are accordingly disposed of.

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