Orissa High Court issues notice to SJTA on Patabola Seva row
Justice RK Pattanaik issued the notice on Wednesday on the petition filed by Santosh Kumar Patra and seven others seeking the court's intervention against the order issued by the chief administrator on June 12, 2025. The petitioners claimed they are Patara Bishoyi Sevaks and descendants of the original RoR holders, who were specifically assigned to look after the Patabola Seva in the temple.
According to the petition, Patabola Seva is a ritual service traditionally reserved for hereditary sevaks. It is a sacred secret service whose knowledge is transferred from generation to generation, and the outsiders have no scope to acquire such knowledge. Sevak means any person who is recorded as such in RoRs.
During the hearing, advocate Avijit Patnaik, representing the petitioners, argued that allowing the two persons to take part in the Patabola Seva is contrary to section I21 (2) (1) of the Shree Jagannath Temple Act, 1955. The temple administration has encroached upon the religious practice and rights of sevaks, Patnaik contended.
In the order on Wednesday, Justice Pattanaik said, 'Considering the facts pleaded on record and plea advanced by the petitioners, the court is inclined to have the response of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration in particular.' The judge issued notice to chief administrator and directed to list the matter on June 25.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- New Indian Express
Prof Jagneshwar Dandapat reappointed interim VC of Utkal University under amended Ordinance
BHUBANESWAR: Prof Jagneshwar Dandapat has been reappointed as the in-charge vice-chancellor (VC) of Utkal University. The Chancellor's office on Friday issued a notification in this regard. He will continue till joining of the new vice-chancellor or until further orders. Dandapat was appointed as the in-charge V-C on May 27 this year after Sabita Acharya's extended tenure ended on May 23. However, this was challenged by a lawyer Prabir Kumar Das who filed a PIL in Orissa High Court, alleging that the appointment violated Section 6 (10) of the Odisha Universities Amendment Act, 2024. The Orissa High Court on Wednesday disposed of the PIL following the state government's decision to cancel the appointment. The re-appointment is according to the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025. Section 6 (10) of the Ordinance has been amended to empower the Chancellor to appoint any person as V-C for the time being until a regular appointment is made. This also empowers the Chancellor to fix the tenure of the V-C.
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- New Indian Express
Orissa HC issues SOP for judicial officers on extension pleas in time-bound cases, bars direct SC communication
CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for judicial officers across the state to streamline the process of seeking extensions in time-bound judicial matters, following directions from the Supreme Court. The move is aimed to bring uniformity and transparency to the extension process in time-bound cases, ensuring judicial discipline and institutional oversight in compliance with the Supreme Court's directive. The SOP, notified by registrar general Asanta Kumar Das, is in response to observations made by the apex court in a case on May 23. The court expressed concern over direct communications from trial court judges to its registry, a practice deemed 'wholly unacceptable'. It clarified that such communications must be routed through the high court's registry. The newly issued SOP mandates that all judicial officers, including district judges and judges of family courts, must submit extension requests via official email and regular mode to the registrar (judicial) of the high court. These requests must include case details, current status, reasons for delay and the period of extension sought, formatted as per a prescribed annexure. For cases monitored by the Supreme Court, the high court registrar (judicial) will forward the request to the appropriate officer in the apex court's registry. Direct communication by any presiding officer with the Supreme Court registry is strictly prohibited. The SOP emphasises accountability, stating that repeated or unjustified delays may invite administrative scrutiny. Further, district judges and the registrar (judicial) are tasked with monthly monitoring of such cases and maintaining records for periodic reporting to the court.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- New Indian Express
Odisha government seeks change in leased land's status
BHUBANESWAR: Government land leased out to individuals or organisations for non-agricultural, commercial and industrial purposes with 'sthitiban' status in the record-of-rights (RoR) now stand to lose the tag. The state government has instructed all collectors to change the status of the leasehold properties to 'pattadar' in the RoR in a time-bound manner and report compliance with the Revenue and Disaster Management department. The move to rectify 'sattva' (status) in RoR of leasehold government land came in the wake of misuse of such land causing legal issues and increased litigations. 'It has come to the notice of the government that in some cases, lease of government land sanctioned in favour of various organisations, entrepreneurs, industrial and commercial concerns, public sector undertaking, corporation and local authorities for non-agricultural purposes have been wrongly and illegally recorded in 'sthitiban' status in the RoR. This wrong recording of leasehold land is a serious illegality and irregularity and causing serious problems,' the June 19 order of Revenue department said. 'Sthitiban' status is accorded in the RoR only when government land is leased out for agriculture process. However, at the time of execution of lease deed of government land for non-agricultural purposes, the status of the land is recorded as 'pattadar' and not as 'sthitiban'. In such cases, a lease deed is executed by laying down the terms and conditions of the lease and use of the land is governed by such terms, the order issued to all collectors said. 'In order to ensure the integrity of the land records and protect the government land, it is imperative to undertake a careful scrutiny of RoRs relating to leasehold properties of government and rectify those wrong recordings, wherever detected,' additional chief secretary, Revenue DK Singh said in the letter. The collectors have been asked to instruct all tehsildars to verify RoRs of leasehold government land and rectify the records to 'pattadar' status. The additional district magistrate (revenue) will lead this effort and provide a certificate of completion with countersignature of the collector concerned. They have been asked to submit action taken report within a month.
