Sanatan Prabhat > Post Type > News > National News > We will fight till the end to recover the temple land and protect devotees’ faith ! : Adv. Pujya Suresh Kulkarni

We will fight till the end to recover the temple land and protect devotees’ faith ! : Adv. Pujya Suresh Kulkarni

Government already possesses evidence of the land scam; then whom is the temple administration protecting ? – asks Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh

 

Dharashiv, Maharashtra – According to the official report of the Maharashtra Government, the Nizam Government had granted 1,668.14 hectares (4,122.07 acres) of land to the Shri Tuljabhavani Temple Trust. Yet, the Tuljapur Temple Trust claims not to know this land. This is a glaring example of administrative incompetence. By claiming that it possesses only 400 acres of land, the temple administration is merely trying to cover up its own inefficiency. By projecting the figure of only 400 acres, exactly whom is the temple administration trying to protect? We will continue our fight till the very end to recover the temple land and safeguard the faith of crores of devotees, declared Advocate Pujya Suresh Kulkarni, Legal Advisor to the Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh and the advocate leading the legal battle in the Tuljapur Temple land scam case, while addressing a press conference at Dharashiv.

Also present at the press conference were Mr Vinod Rasal, Solapur-Dharashiv District Organiser of the Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh; Mr Arvind Pansare of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti; Advocate Satish Gajul, District Coordinator of the Rashtrabhakta Advocate Committee; and Mr Hiralal Tiwari of Sanatan Sanstha.

Advocate Pujya Suresh Kulkarni further said:

  1. On behalf of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, when we filed Public Interest Litigation No. 21 of 2018 before the Aurangabad Bench of the Mumbai High Court, we made the Revenue and Forest Department, Home Department, Law and Judiciary Department, District Collector, and Shri Tuljapur Devasthan Trust respondents in the petition. At that time, the District Collector of Dharashiv had submitted a comprehensive report on the Tuljapur land scam. The report enclosed the letter issued by Mr M.N. Gilani, Principal Secretary of the Law and Judiciary Department (who later became a Judge of the Bombay High Court), regarding the scam involving 1,668.14 hectares of land. If so, why did the Tuljapur Temple administration, which was itself a respondent in the case, neither raise any objection nor file an affidavit before the Court ?
  2. It is not only the Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh that says there has been a scam involving the temple land; the State Government itself has acknowledged it in official records. These documents bear the signatures of the Principal Secretary of the Law and Judiciary Department and the concerned Minister. How can the temple administration, which is itself a respondent before the Court, claim ignorance of this? This clearly shows how irresponsibly and carelessly the temple administration is managing the temple’s affairs. The public must hold the temple administration accountable.

Details of the scam involving 4,122.07 acres of Shri Tuljapur Temple land

  1. Although the Tuljabhavani Trust legally owns 1,347.87 hectares (approximately 3,397 acres) of land, its actual possession remains with private individuals connected with four maths, and the administration has no legal explanation for this. Originally, this land had been granted to the four maths as sanads for rendering various services to the temple. However, today, even the lands held by these maths have been encroached upon on a large scale.
  2. The then Deputy District Collector illegally transferred 163.12 hectares (approximately 403 acres) of land held in the name of Jagdamba Trust to private individuals without the temple trust’s knowledge.
  3. Although the Kul Law does not apply to temple land, 3.04 acres out of 25.51 hectares were declared as “protected Kul” land and sold through a registered sale deed dated 21 July 1981.
  4. A senior clerk, acting beyond his authority, illegally recorded 105.64 hectares (approximately 261 acres) of land in the names of 73 individuals.
  5. Land bearing Survey Nos. 357/3 and 357/4 at Apsinga (Taluka Tuljapur) were transferred based on illegal mutation entries dated 15 October 1975 and 1979. Similarly, 64 hectares (158 acres) of land under Survey No. 107 at Uphala (Dist Dharashiv) was illegally grabbed.

Despite all this information being available in the official records of the State Government and the District Administration, it is unfortunate that ordinary citizens have to bring these facts to the notice of the temple administration.

Can a senior clerk, on his own authority, transfer 261 acres of temple land to others?

The senior clerk and other junior employees involved in the land scam were dismissed from service as disciplinary action. However, after some time, they were reinstated in Government service. If this is how the administration functions, how will thousands of acres of encroached temple land ever be restored to the temple? Can a senior clerk, on his own authority, transfer 261 acres of temple land to other persons? This is the real question. Such a thing could not have happened without political influence and high-level administrative interference.

Overall, this has become a mere charade of “You pretend to punish, and I pretend to suffer,” amounting to a complete betrayal of crores of devotees. Hundreds of acres of Shri Tuljabhavani Temple land have been illegally transferred into the names of other persons through scams perpetrated by Government officers, employees and the land mafia, causing enormous financial loss to the temple. The real question is whether the temple administration, which merely makes hollow claims about legal action, will actually initiate a legal battle to recover every acre of the temple land from those who have grabbed it.

Can the temple administration really manage the temple properly?

Despite the Government’s control over the temple, why has the administration failed for so many years to recover its own thousands of acres of land? Can a system that cannot protect the temple’s property and is incapable of punishing the corrupt truly manage the affairs of the temple properly?

1,200 acres of Pandharpur Devasthan land were recovered!

A similar situation came to light in the case of the Paschim Maharashtra Devasthan Management Committee. Out of approximately 25,000 acres of temple land, official records relating to nearly 8,000 acres had disappeared. Likewise, although Pandharpur Devasthan owned 1,200 acres of land, the temple was not receiving even ₹1 of income from it. Ultimately, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and the Hindu Vidhidnya Parishad successfully recovered those 1,200 acres for the temple through a legal battle.

Our legal battle will continue until every acre of the temple land is freed from encroachment and restored to the temple’s possession! – Advocate Pujya Suresh Kulkarni

In the Tuljapur case as well, we have approached the Supreme Court seeking stringent action against those who grabbed the temple land and looted the temple donation box. When the temple actually owns 4,122.07 acres, is the temple administration protecting the land grabbers by claiming that it possesses only 400 acres? This naturally raises serious suspicion. Our legal battle will continue until the entire land is freed from encroachment and restored to the temple’s possession.

Latest Articles