The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Odisha Government on a special leave petition (SlP) seeking compensation from the State Government for illegally demolishing a 40-feet-high temple here that was built at a cost of over Rs 2 crore.
A Bench of the apex court also ordered the State Government to maintain status quo in the matter of the Shyama Shyam Dham temple and the 5,000 square feet of land on which the temple was constructed about 20 years ago. The Supreme Court is likely to take up the matter again on June 26 along with all other connected matters arising out of an impugned Odisha High Court order passed on January 6, 2012, sources said.
It may be mentioned that the State Government equipped with a High Court order pulled down the temple along with 30 other religious structures in the city last month. In the eyes of the State Government, about 207 structures in Cuttack, including these 30, were constructed illegally on Government land.
The Shyama Shyam Dham temple trust, however, challenged the action of the Government and the impugned order of the HC stating that the demolition of the temple was illegal as the application of regularisation of the Government land in favour of the temple trust was pending disposal with the Government.