Survey the encroached temple lands ! : Ashish Jaiswal Minister of State’s directive

• In a meeting with Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh at Mantralaya, Minister of State Ashish Jaiswal’s directive to the administration

• Minister also ordered preparation of a draft for the Anti-Land Grabbing Act

Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh delegation submitting a memorandum to Minister of State Ashish Jaiswal demanding implementation of the Anti-Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act

Mumbai – Large tracts of temple land across the state have been encroached upon. To reclaim these lands and to prevent further encroachments, the Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh had demanded that Maharashtra, like Gujarat, implement an Anti-Land Grabbing Act. Acting on this demand, Minister of State for Law and Justice, Adv. Ashish Jaiswal, convened a special meeting at Mantralaya. During the meeting, he directed that a statewide survey be conducted of all temple lands and a district-wise list of encroached lands be prepared. He also ordered the Law and Justice Department to draft the Anti-Land Grabbing Act.

The meeting was attended by Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh’s National Coordinator Shri. Sunil Ghanwat, Shri. Suresh Kaudare (Advocate and Chairman, BhimashankarJyotirling Devasthan), Shri. Anup Jaiswal (Amravati – Vidarbha Devasthan Committee and Mandir Mahasangh Core Team), H.B.P. Dattatray Maharaj Chorge (Pune), Shri. Dattatray Kaudare (Pune), Shri. Vilas Sawant (Sindhudurg), Shri. Shivram Desai (Sindhudurg), Shri. Vijay Patil (Thane), Shri. Prakash Chalke (Khed, Ratnagiri), Shri. Suresh Bhovane (Mandangad, Ratnagiri), Shri. Mahesh Katre (Sangameshwar), Shri. Sagar Chopdar (Coordinator – Mumbai, Thane, Raigad), Shri. Arvind Panasare, Shri. Ravindra Nalavade, Shri. Satish Sonar, along with trustees and representatives from major temples in Mumbai, Pune, Vidarbha, Western Maharashtra, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg.

Anti-Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act discussion with Minister of State Ashish Jaiswal, with Sunil Ghanwat and Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh officials

As per several Supreme Court and High Court judgments, temple lands gifted by kings and rulers for rituals, worship, and service cannot be sold by priests, trustees, or third parties, nor can they be transferred under any other name. Protecting such lands is the responsibility of both the government and the judiciary. Yet, thousands of acres of temple lands in Maharashtra have been illegally sold. Currently, only civil suits can be filed in such cases, but states like Gujarat, Karnataka, Assam, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu have enacted criminal laws (Anti-Land Grabbing Acts) prescribing imprisonment. Maharashtra lacks such a stringent law, which has emboldened land mafias. The Supreme Court too has directed that such a law be enacted—this was placed before the government with evidence during the meeting.

Directive to propose a separate Trust Board for Sindhudurg temples

In 1969, 245 temples in Sindhudurg district were placed under the Western Maharashtra Temple Management Committee. As a result, priests and service-holders of these temples often have to travel 150 km to Kolhapur for temple-related matters, without receiving any assistance from the committee. Minister Ashish Jaiswal, after reviewing these difficulties, directed the Principal Secretary of the Law and Justice Department to submit a proposal for establishing an independent Trust Board for Sindhudurg temples under the Charity Commissioner, freeing them from the Western Maharashtra committee.

Inquiry ordered into encroached temple lands in Konkan

The Mandir Mahasangh highlighted that thousands of acres of sacred groves (Devrai, Devarahati) belonging to temples in Ratnagiri and Konkan have been illegally transferred in land records to the name of the Maharashtra Government. This malpractice has been ongoing since 2018, under the false pretext of Supreme Court rulings on unauthorized places of worship. Minister Jaiswal ordered an immediate survey to determine:

• How many temples have been removed from land records (7/12 extracts) ?
• How much land originally belonged to these temples ?
• He also directed the Charity Commissioner to conduct an inquiry. Assuring temple trustees, he said, “No one will be allowed to bypass the law. Strict action will follow.”