On Friday, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justice B.R. GAVAI and Justice HIMA KOHLI in the matter of Ardhendu Kumar Das vs State of Odisha & Ors and other matters has dismissed pleas challenging construction work being done at Shri Jagannath Temple in Puri.
The Supreme Court has voiced concern with petitioners who file PILs for personal gain or publicity, accusing them of squandering the court’s time.
The Archaeological Survey of India has notified the High Court that the work will not do any damage to the heritage site, according to Justices BR Gavai and Hima Kohli.
However, despite the fact that the matter had not been completed, a lot of fuss was made to get it listed before the Apex Court, according to the court.
The Bench made these observations while hearing arguments from one Ardhendu Kumar Das and others who claimed to be devotees of God Shri Jagganath.
The petitioner had challenged the High Court’s May 9 ruling refusing to intervene in the pleas saying that illegal and unlicensed work is being done at the site, resulting in the outright destruction of the heritage property, in front of the court.
Such construction work is also said to be in violation of Article 49 of the Indian Constitution, as well as the restrictions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act.
During the proceedings, the court was also informed that over 60000 people visit the temple on a daily basis, with about 15-20 lakh devotees visiting during the Rath Yatra.
The court dismissed the petitions after hearing the arguments, noting that the ASI report said that the construction work is not causing any harm to the site. It was also noticed that the construction of toilets near the temple for the benefit of pilgrims does not do any damage to the temple.
It could thus be seen that the threeJudge Bench of this Court has emphasized on the necessity to have separate toilets for male and female. This Court further directed that the toilets be provided with modern amenities and should be kept absolutely clean. This Court also directed that the number of toilets shall be adequate having regard to the average footfall in the Temple. This Court further emphasized the necessity to have cloak rooms and directed the Temple administration to take steps in that regard.
The Court Emphasized
The Court further observed a mushroom growth of pils before it, which does not have the essence of public litigation and are mear publicity motivated, which the court deprecate practicing such frivolous petitions besides the court expressed its displeasure over wast of Court time by such Pils.
In the recent past, it is noticed that there is mushroom growth of public interest litigations. However, in many of such petitions, there is no public interest involved at all. The petitions are either publicity interest litigations or personal interest litigation. We highly deprecate practice of filing such frivolous petitions. They are nothing but abuse of process of law. They encroach upon a valuable judicial time which could be otherwise utilized for considering genuine issues. It is high time that such socalled public interest litigations are nipped in the bud so that the developmental activities in the larger public interest are not stalled.
The Court Emphasised
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