By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR/NEW DELHI: “Jai Jagannath .The Lord has spoken through the voice of the Hon’ble Apex Court,” Puri BJD MP Pinaki Mishra tweeted soon after the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed two petitions filed alleging illegal excavation and construction activities by Odisha Government around the Jagannath Temple in Puri. “We highly deprecate such practise of filing public interest litigations, they are nothing but an abuse or process of law,” the bench of Justices B R Gavai and Hima Kohli said.
“Naveen babu stands vindicated in his earnest attempt to create world class infrastructure to make Puri a World Heritage Site. He has always tried to make this apolitical, by taking all parties along every step of the way, and inviting all leaders to the foundation stone laying ceremony till date. I fervently appeal to all to stop impeding this noble venture for personal or political gain. History will judge us in this hour of reckoning if this decisive legal verdict of the final court is not taken in the right spirit of Odiya glory for the sake of Lord Jagannath and the people of Puri,” MP Mishra added.
Terming the petitions as ‘frivolous’ and contrary to public interest, the apex court dismissed the petitions with cost of Rs 1 lakh each. The court made it clear that the construction works undertaken by the State Government are necessary in the larger public interest and are in tune with the Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains Act 1958 and also with earlier directions issued by the Supreme Court in relation to the administration of the temple.
A bench of Justices Gavai and Kohli said a “hue and cry was made that the construction carried out is contrary to the inspection report by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)”, and added that, “However, the note of the Director General of ASI…as well as the affidavit filed by ASI before the (Orissa) High Court would falsify the position”. The order came on appeals against the Orissa High Court order of May 9, refusing to restrain the state from going ahead with the work.
