HC calls for proposals to clear Khandagiri encroachments Year'2024
TIMES CITY
Cuttack: Expressing concern over encroachments surrounding the historically significant Khandagiri ca- ves on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, the Orissa high court on Monday summoned senior administrative, police and ASI officers to appear in person with their proposed schemes for removal of encroachments from the protected site.
A two-judge bench of Chief Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Justice Savitri Ratho summoned the dis- trict magistrate (Khurda). deputy commissioner of police (Bhubaneswar) and superintending archaeologist of Archaeological Survey of India (Bhubaneswar circle) to appear in person on Oct 8'24.
"They shall be required to be personally present in court with their proposed schemes for removal of en- croachments from the pro-
A petition was filed seeking judicial intervention against encroachments at the protected site.
We expect them to hold a meeting to chalk out a plan to assist the court," the bench said.
The directive was issued after the bench reviewed a joint report submitted by additional govt advocates Lalatendu Samantaray and Suman Pattnaik, who acted as 'officers of the court' and in- spected the site following the court's Sept 18 order.
The bench instructed that copies of the report, along with a pen drive containing videos and photographs, be provided to the Khurda district magistrate,
Bhubaneswar DCP and the ASI's superintending archaeologist by Tuesday. The bench emphasized that "in no case encroachments, either temporary or permanent, will be tolerated".
The report identified unauthorised constructions in front of cave 8, known as Barabhuji Gumpha, in the form of concrete structures. According to the revenue officials present during inspection of the caves, the constructions have been made over land recorded in the name of the public works department and general administration department, the report said.The petition seeking judicial intervention against encroachments at the protected site was filed by Shree Khandagiri Udaygiri Digambara Jain Sidha Khetra, a Cuttack-based organisation, in the form of a PIL.
The Khandagiri caves, a group of 15 caves associated with Jainism and believed to have been carved out around the 2nd century BC, were declared a protected site in 1912, with the ASI serving as the custodian of the monu- ments.
When ordering the site inspection, the high court had directed the Khurda dis- trict magistrate to remove encroachments "as far as is practical" before the 'officers of the court' visited the site.
The bench further clarified, "We also make it clear that if by the action of any authority taken for removal of encroachments in accor- dance with law affects any party, it shall be open for such party to take recourse to appropriate forum as available."
News Links: 1. https://magazines.odisha.gov.in/orissareview/2020/Jan/engpdf/51-56.pdf
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