HC RAPS STATE FOR RESTORING 5,000HA OF LAND TO DEVASTHANS

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday rapped the Maharashtra government for restoring more than 5,000 hectares of land to 2,909 devasthans or temple trusts across the state without ascertaining whether they actually exist and without confirming whether they are all public trusts.

In case they do not fulfil these checkboxes, the HC said, the government should hold on to the land until and inquiry is completed. The division bench of justices SC Dharmadhikari and Bharati Dangre said, “Until such proceedings are concluded ... the lands have to be held by the state government, and protected and safeguarded as well.”

The court was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by some temple trusts challenging the validity of certain clauses of a 2010 government circular that related to devasthan lands – lands held by temple trusts across the state.

The court noticed that there were large scale violations by certain devasthans in the state, with regard to holding and dealing with land, contrary to the terms and conditions of the grants or the permissions to continue and retain these lands.

The revenue department has filed an affidavit disclosing that it had taken up 6,155 cases for inquiry suspecting illegal land transfers.

The affidavit states that 5,010 cases were taken up for review from which 3,746 cases were disposed of, and the department refused to restore lands to 837 of these 3,746 temple trusts. The department decided to restore 5,540 hectares of lands to 2,909 temple trusts.

The bench found fault with this move, saying authorities at the ground level “are finding it difficult to locate the devasthan or identify the management and administration of a devasthan, if there is one.”

“The anxiety of this court was that such of the lands which are devasthan lands be identified and be held by that devasthan for that purpose alone for which they have been made over or granted to it,” the bench said.