Explained: Supreme Court rejects pleas against excavation around Puri temple, what is the case? | Explained News,The Indian Express
The Supreme Court has quashed petitions against construction around the Jagannath temple in Puri. What is this construction, and why has it been challenged?
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a batch of petitions against excavation and construction work by the Odisha government along the Puri Jagannath temple as part of the Puri Heritage Corridor Project, calling the pleas “frivolous”. The petitioners alleged that the construction work would damage the heritage site.
The case in the Supreme Court comes at a time when the Orissa High Court is already hearing a plea against construction by the state government along the 800-year-old Puri Jagannath temple. Puri residents had moved the High Court alleging that the structural safety of the temple could be in jeopardy if land around the temple were dug up. The District Court in Puri is also hearing cases seeking to stop the construction.
Last week, a High Court Bench comprising Chief Justice S Muralidhar and R K Pattnaik had asked the state government to file an affidavit before June 20 and had listed the case for hearing on June 22. The court had earlier also asked the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to file an affidavit before the court and even conduct a joint inspection along with the state government.
The ASI then told the court that the state government had no requisite permission for the project.
Following the ASI’s affidavit, different petitioners (not the ones before the High Court) have moved the Supreme Court. The SC is examining whether such an appeal through a Special Leave Petition can be permitted before hearing the plea on merits.
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