₹110-Crore Land Near Konark Sun Temple to Return to Odisha Govt Ownership

The Odisha Board of Revenue has quashed a 37-year-old order in a high-value land dispute near the Konark Sun Temple in Puri district and directed the restoration of 11 acres of land, valued at around ₹110 crore, to the state government.

The ruling was passed on Friday by Board of Revenue member Satyabrata Sahu while hearing two revision petitions filed by the Puri district collector with the state government's approval. The board directed the local settlement officer to restore the disputed land to the government account.

The land, located near the UNESCO World Heritage Site, was originally recorded as Anabadi/Puratana Patita, or abandoned land. In 1989, however, a portion of it was recorded as Sthitiban, indicating permanent occupancy rights, in the name of a private individual following an order by the Commissioner of Land Records and Settlement.

The individual had claimed that the property was granted to him years earlier through two handwritten Hatapatta documents issued by the erstwhile landlord. The then commissioner had directed that the land be recorded in his name within two months.The Board of Revenue noted that the Puri collector had not been given an adequate opportunity to present the facts during the earlier proceedings.

The claimant had cited long-term possession, cultivation, payment of land revenue and subsequent entries in revenue records to support his claim. However, the board examined whether the Hatapatta documents were valid, whether the alleged grantors had the legal authority to transfer the land and whether the documents could establish permanent occupancy rights.

Distinguishing possession from legal ownership, the board observed that long-term occupation and revenue records alone do not establish lawful ownership.

It further noted that rights lawfully created before an estate vested in the state could be protected under the law, but a right that was never legally established at the outset could not be validated merely through subsequent entries in revenue records.

The latest order sets aside the 1989 decision and clears the way for the land's restoration to government ownership.