SIDDHA MATH Vs. JAGANNATH TEMPLE MANAGING

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Petitioners are aggrieved by the Order Dated 30.11.1992 of the Tahasildar, Puri passed in O.E.A. Claim Case No. 68 of 1990, which has been annexed as Annexure -5 to the Writ Petition.

(2.) THE moot question that arises to be determined in this Writ Petition has been dealt with by this Court as well as the Apex Court from various angles in different cases, which would be referred subsequently in this Judgment. The Petitioner No. 1 is a public religious Math governed under the Orissa Hindu Religious Endowments Act, 1951, Petitioner No. 2 is the Mahanta in Succession, of the Petitioner No. 1 - Math. The lands in dispute are LAKRRAJ BAHEL lands recorded in the status of Amrutmonohi. The properties were declared as trust estate by the Subordinate Judge, Puri, who was the Estate Abolition Tribunal in E.A.A. Case Nos. 50 of 1963 & 1013 of 1965 by Order Dated 18.10.1965 (Annexure -2). After vesting of the trust estate, pursuant to the notification issued under the provisions of the Orissa Estate Abolition Act in 1974, the Petitioner No. 2 filed a Claim Case before the Tahasildar - Opp. Party No. 2 under Sections 6 & 7 of the O.E.A. Act. The said claim case was allowed & the disputed lands were settled in the name of Shri Jagannath Mohaprabhu, Bije Srikhetra Marfat Mahanta Siddha Brundaban Ramanuj Das. In the Hal Settlement, the same was also recorded in the name of Shri Jagannath Mohaprabhu, Bije Srikhetra Marfat Mahanta Siddha Brundaban Ramanuj Das.

(3.) THOUGH considering the nature of dispute involved in the present Writ Petition, it is not very much essential to refer to the question as to what is a "Math" & what are the nature of rights & privilege enjoyed by the ascetic heading such a Math commonly known as "Mahanta", but it would be appropriate to discuss the same for proper appreciation of the facts involved in this case.