Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh Demands Cancellation of Illegal Land Purchase Case!
Many Hindu Temple Lands in Maharashtra Under Threat!
While the controversy surrounding the sale of 50 crore rupees worth of land belonging to Shri Someshwar Devasthan in Amravati district is still fresh, another alarming case has come to light involving an attempt to usurp crores worth of land from Shri Kaleshwar Mahadev Trust in Daryapur Taluka. In response, the state-level officials of the Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh’s core team, Mr. Anup Jaiswal, and Amravati District Convenor, Mr. Kailas Panpaliya, have lodged a written complaint with the Tehsildar of Daryapur. They have made a strong demand for the immediate cancellation of the illegal land purchase of this temple’s property.
Previously known as Shri Kaleshwar Mahadev Trust, this temple is now identified as Shri Kondeshwar Mahadev Trust. The temple owns agricultural land in Bhujwada, Taluka Daryapur, District Amravati, under survey numbers 68 and 92. This land was allotted to the trust in 1910 and 1912, respectively. The income generated from this land was intended to be used for the upkeep of the temple. However, no compensation is being provided to the temple by the land occupants, and the temple is currently in a dilapidated condition. Taking advantage of the death of all the temple trustees, an attempt is being made to illegally acquire 6 acres out of the total 15 acres of land, with the purchase application submitted to the Tehsildar of Daryapur. The application for the land purchase has been filed by Purushottam Pundlikrao Tale.
In earlier rulings, the Honorable Supreme Court has clearly stated that the protection of temple lands is the responsibility of the government and the courts. However, certain officials from the Revenue Department are misusing their positions to unlawfully transfer temple lands into private hands, despite the fact that temple lands are not subject to the tenancy laws.
The temple has been granted exemption under the provisions of the Tenancy Act, and therefore, the land sale certificate application submitted to the Tehsildar should be immediately dismissed, and the case should be closed. The Mandir Mahasangh has pledged to continue following up on this case. At the time of submitting the memorandum, temple supporters from Daryapur, including Shri Pradeep Maliye, Gaurav Baitade, Om Rane, Sandeep Rajgure, Gajanan Shendokar, Akshay Sarde, Dinesh Dhotre, and Tejas Giri were present.
Statewide Campaign by the Mandir Mahasangh!: In recent times, numerous such illegal activities have been reported across Maharashtra, and it is imperative that the state government takes action to curb these malpractices. If similar cases come to light elsewhere, the Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh should be informed with all relevant details. A statewide campaign will soon be launched by the Mandir Mahasangh to combat such cases, as announced by the National Organizer of the Mandir Mahasangh, Mr. Sunil Ghanwat.
