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Pinaki Mishra, Senior Advocate and Member of Parliament from Biju Janata Dal, appearing for State of Orissa today argued before the Top Court that plea seeking stay of excavation work in the vicinity of Jagannath temple has a political colour.

He further told the court that the intention of the government is to make Puri a World Heritage City and the Sevayak Associations are in support of the venture. 

The court was hearing a plea challenging the order of the Orissa High Court not restraining the State government from carrying out excavation work around Shree Jagannath temple at Puri in Odisha alleging that the said excavation poses a serious threat to the temple.

Appearing for the petitioner Mahalakshmi Pavani, Sr. Adv, argued that the State had not obtained due permission under the  Ancient Monuments Protected Sites and Remains Act, 1958 but merely obtained a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the National Monuments Authority (NMA).

She further told the court that the NMA could not have granted a valid permission as the authority contemplated under the Act is the Director of Archeological Survey. Pavani relied on reports by the archeological authorities to tell the court that the excavations may already have done irreparable damage to the temple. 

Vinay Navare, Sr. Adv, appearing for another petitioner told the court that the Odisha government authorities are frequently changing the design of the proposed project. He argued that excavations are being done in prohibited areas and it has the potential to cause damaged to the centuries old monument. It was argued that the role of NMA is to merely suggest and recommend and not to give NOCs. Navare told the court that any construction activity in the prohibited area must be carried out by the Archeological Survey and not by anyone else. 

Ashok Kumar Parija, Advocate General of Odisha, argued that the Director Culture, Government of Odisha is the competent authority under the Act. He further told the court that the activities carried out by the State will not fall under the definition of construction. The AG argued that the definition of construction does not include repairs of existing structures, building toilets and cleaning the sewage. He told the court that heritage impact assessment was undertaken and the State has obtained all the requisite permissions. 

Pinaki Mishra, Sr. Adv, appearing for one of the respondents, informed the court that the State's intentions are to make Puri a world heritage city and that the amenities are being made in light of the huge number of persons who turn up to visit the temple. Mishra argued that while undertaking the task, a couple of old Maths had to be demolished because of which the so called public spirited persons have approached the court. He told the court that petition is politically coloured. Mishra informed the court that many of the Sevayak associations are in support of the project and have given their lands for the same. 

The court on hearing the submissions made by the parties reserved the case for orders.

It is to be noted that the plea was mentioned twice before the same bench before finally being listed for hearing today. The plea before the High Court contended that the government had not obtained any permission to carry out the construction work. The State, however, informed the Court that it had obtained all the requisite permission for the construction.

The Archeological Survey of India in its affidavit informed the High Court that the Odisha Bridge Construction Corporation, the PSU which is undertaking the construction, may have destroyed archaeological remains from around the 12th century Jagannath temple by carrying out deep excavation to build common facilities under Srimandir Parikrama Plan.

The high court on May 9, 2022 took this on record and asked the State of Odisha to file a reply to ASI’s affidavit.

What is the construction project that is being challenged in the plea?

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

According to Hindustan Times, the project was aimed to be completed by May 2023, with creation of amenities for pilgrims such cloak rooms, restrooms, drinking water fountains, temple reception centre with a queue management facility for 6,000 people, information-cum-donation kiosks, shelter pavilions for shade and rest, multi-level car parking, dedicated shuttle cum emergency lane for accommodating police, fire and emergency vehicles and an integrated command and control centre.

Case title: Sumanta Kumar Gadhei Vs State of Orissa