The legal tussle between the State Government and the Odisha Olympic Association (OOA) over the leased land here on which the Barabati Stadium and some commercial complexes stand, took a different turn in Supreme Court on Tuesday when the counsel of the OOA vehemently put forth that the contentious constructions are within the leasehold area and they have been constructed to raise funds for development of sports.
Upon this point raised by Senior Advocate Gopal Subramanium, a Division Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant asked the Odisha Government to file the lease deed in original and observed that the apex court would find out as to whether a lessee, which is involved in public duty could be engaged in raising funds on a “mercurial” or “spacious” ground to sustain the Stadium without the consent of the lessor.
Adjourning the matter to be heard again on April 21, the Bench also directed the Government to file an affidavit within two weeks giving the nature of the shops and photographs thereof of the Marriage Mandap, which have come up on the controversial land adjacent to the Stadium.
Earlier on the day, as directed, the Accountant General of Odisha submitted an audit report of the OOA in a sealed cover to which the OOA counsel sought an opportunity to look at the report and file an objection duly certified by a competent authority stating that the report of the AG cannot be accepted on the face value.
Allowing the OOA counsel to file the objection within two weeks, the Bench, however, expressed a thought that to determine the finality of the audit, “this court may think of sending both (the report and the objection) to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India to scrutinize both the reports”.