Cuttack, May 18: Formulate comprehensive and clear guidelines on transfer & mutation of Shri Jagannath Temple’s properties said the Orissa High Court to Odisha government on Sunday.
In a significant ruling a bench of the Orissa High issued directives to the Odisha government, emphasizing the need to formulate clear and comprehensive guidelines governing the sale, lease, transfer, and mutation of properties belonging to the temple, and the Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in Odisha elsewhere.
The division bench led by Justice Dr. Sanjeeb Kumar Panigrahi while hearing a case related to disputes involving the assets of the Shri Jagannath Temple, asked the state government to initiate concrete and effective steps to regulate the processes of safeguarding the Trinity’s movable and immovable assets.
Apart from it, the High Court asked the government for immediate digitization of temple land records and legal documents for transparency and accountability. It will help preventing unauthorized transactions.
Highlighting the need for coordination between the Revenue and Land Records departments, the High Court instructed that accurate records of properties owned in the name of Shree Jagannath must be maintained.
The Court further directed that the records must clearly reflect the legal status of the properties in accordance with the existing Shree Jagannath Temple Act and other relevant statutes. Similarly, the bench in its order directed the concerned departments to nullify the illegal transactions made with the Jews’ assets.
With it, the High Court Bench called for a review of Section 16(2) of the applicable legal provisions to eliminating the loopholes and its misinterpretations.
The High Court Bench also urged the concerned authorities to protecting the ownership rights of Lord Jagannath’s properties with stricter enforcement and guidelines.
