Bagala Dharmasala land row: Orissa HC asks Puri Collector to submit affidavit   

Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court (HC) today directed the Puri Collector to submit an affidavit on the alleged sale of Bagala Dharmasala land in the Holy town within a week.  

In its first hearing on the petitions filed by opposition parties,  the HC asked Collector Balwant Singh to clarify if the land has been sold out or not. The next hearing of  the matter has been scheduled for next week.

Meanwhile, BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra today filed a fresh petition in the court alleging corruption in the sale of Bagala Dharmashala land on the pretext of settling persons displaced during the demolition drive to create the heritage corridor of Srimandir. He urged the court to bring back the land to the records of Lord Jagannath.

Earlier, the BJP leader had stated that families of around 300 people, who were displaced during demolition drive to create 75-metre heritage corridor around the Meghanad Prachir of the Jagannath Temple, have been allotted land in on Bagala Dharmasala premises. Patra had termed the Government’s move to bring the Bagala Dharmasala under the Revenue Department  as a ‘conspiracy’. He had alleged the Dharmasala land has been demarcated into 26 plots and plans are afoot to sale the same to lodge owners and hoteliers.