Jagannath temple owns land 15 times Puri's area

NEW DELHI: A recent SC order revealed that the Jagannath temple owned a mind-boggling 60,418 acres, or 244.5 square km, of land within and outside Odisha. The land owned by the temple is 15 times the size of Puri town, which is all of 16.33sq km. What also caught the court's attention was that the temple owns several quarries and mines but the licensees are not paying any dues to the shrine.
In its order, an SC bench of Justices Arun Mishra, MR Shah and S Ravindra Bhat said, "There are vast immovable properties within and outside the state belonging to the Shri Jagannath temple. It is stated by amicus curiae (senior advocate Ranjit Kumar) in his report that 60,418 acres of land belong to the temple and record of rights has been prepared for 34,201 acres so far. Let the record of rights for remaining land be prepared, as far as possible, within six months and the same placed before the court. With respect to other immovable properties within and outside the state, let inventory be prepared and details be submitted on how they are being utilised as also the income generated from them."
The bench posted the matter for hearing on January 8.