Supreme Court dismisses petitions against excavation, construction around Puri Jagannath temple

New Delhi, June 3: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a series of petitions against excavation and construction work by the Odisha government along the Puri Jagannath temple as part of the Puri Heritage Corridor Project. It should be noted the PILs were filed because the construction work would damage the heritage site.

 

 

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Hima Kohli rejected two PILs and imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh each on two petitioners. "In the recent past, there is a mushroom growth of PILs. Many such petitions are either publicity interest litigation or personal interest litigation. We deprecate the practice of filing such PIL as it is a waste of judicial time and it needs to be nipped in bud so that development work is not stalled," the bench said in its order.

 

 

 

The apex court refused to entertain petitions seeking a stay on Jagannath Temple Corridor project work and termed it as a necessity for providing public amenities. It is observed that the construction activities are meant to provide facilities and amenities to devotees. It was hearing PILs challenging the order of the Odisha High Court refusing to restrain the state government from carrying out excavation work around the Shree Jagannath temple at Puri, Odisha.

 

Yesterday, the bench heard arguments of advocates representing petitioners and the state government and reserved the order for today. The appeals filed in the apex court alleged that the excavation of the area close to the temple wall poses a serious threat to the temple's structural safety. It sought a stay of the operation of the construction work near the temple.

 

 

The High Court, while hearing a PIL, had asked the Archeological Survey of India as well as the State government agencies to conduct a joint inspection of the area and submit a report. The ASI had informed the High Court that there was every possibility of archaeological remains at the heritage site being destroyed due to the excavation work for the corridor.

 

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Pattanaik 2021 had laid down the foundation stone for the Jagannath Temple corridor project wherein the 75-metre perimeter of the temple was sought to be transformed into a heritage corridor to attract devotees. 'The Srimandir Parikrama project' has been designed to have a wide terraced green landscape and a pedestrian-only pathway.