Lord Jagannath’s land grabbing: Law Minister warns stern action against buyers, sellers and sub-registrars

Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan warns of stern action against illegal sales of Lord Jagannath’s lands. Buyers, sellers, and sub-registrars to face criminal charges. Plans for a corpus fund from encroached lands.In the wake of the illegal sale of land belonging to Lord Jagannath, Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan on Sunday warned of criminal action. He warned harsh measures would be taken against the buyers, sellers, and involved sub-registrars if the temple land was found to have been illegitimately sold.“The illegal sale of land belonging to Lord Jagannath will not be tolerated. Any such transactions will be met with strict action,” the Law Minister said while speaking to media persons on Sunday.The minister also stated that harsh actions would be taken in the Baselisahi land fraud incident in Puri. Meanwhile, the Minister revealed that the legal department is planning to sell off encroached land to raise a corpus fund.In line with the 2003 Uniform Policy, settlements will be made for encroached Jagannath lands. In Puri and other parts of the state, people have long held onto the deity’s land. This process aims to clear encroachments and could help create a corpus fund worth between Rs 8,000 to 10,000 crore. The smallest parcels of land will be sold at affordable rates.Speaking to media persons, the Minister informed, “After the formation of the new Managing Committee, as per the 2003 Uniform Policy, settlement of all the lands belonging to Lord Jagannath will be done, as most of the lands have been grabbed illegally. Not only in Puri, but in other parts also several criminals have illegally occupied lands belonging to Lord Jagannath.He added, “After the lands are freed from the grabbers, we will form a Corpus Fund. If anybody wants to buy the land they are grabbing, then they will have to pay the benchmark or the market value of the land. If everything goes well, then we are sure of forming a corpus fund of Rs 8,000-10,000 crore.”“First, we will focus on lands in Odisha and later on taking steps to identify lands in other parts of the country that belong to Lord Jagannath. Strict action will be taken against those involved in the illegal sale of Lord Jagannath’s land,” the Law Minister added. “Our government has adopted zero tolerance to any kind of corruption,” he concluded.