Lucknow, Aug 17 Pulling up Uttar Pradesh authorities, the Allahabad High Court has directed the state government to deposit in a bank account Rs 1.20 crore in the name of the civil court as unpaid land component of the plot it acquired from a temple in Ayodhya, adjacent to the Ram Janmabhoomi temple.
The court's Lucknow bench strongly criticised the conduct of state authorities in taking possession of the property at Sugriv Kila in Ayodhya in 2023 without making the promised payment and asked the state to also deposit 8 per cent annual interest on the amount.
A bench of Justices Shekhar B Saraf and Abhdesh Kumar Chaudhary passed the order on August 11 on a plea filed by Shri Thakur Ram Janki Sugrivji Virajman Mandir, Ayodhya.
Passing the order, the HC clarified that it was not deciding the title dispute. It noted that questions of ownership would have to be adjudicated after a full trial before the civil court.
The bench directed that the pending title suit, instituted in 2024, be expedited and preferably concluded within one year, while leaving all questions of law and title open for determination by the civil court.
It observed that the authorities appeared to have taken possession of the temple land in haste and subsequently changed their stand by claiming that it was Nazul/government land and that no payment was payable to the temple.
The court said such conduct could not be termed "fair, proper or reasonable",
The case concerned 1,512 square metres of land in Khasra No. 246, Khata No. 44/2, belonging to Shri Thakur Ram Janki Sugrivji Virajman Mandir at Sugriv Kila, situated adjacent to the Ram Janmabhoomi temple.
The temple claimed that its ownership had continued through successive revenue settlements since 1858.
According to the petitioner, the parties executed a registered sale deed on December 22, 2023, for a total consideration of Rs 1,38,44,559.
Of this, Rs 1,20,96,000 represented the cost of the land and Rs 17,48,559 the cost of construction. While the construction component had been paid, the land component remained unpaid.
The petitioner temple alleged that authorities had assured it that the sale consideration would be transferred within 15 days through RTGS.
Trusting the government, it handed over possession immediately. However, the payment was not made, forcing the temple to approach the High Court.
The State, meanwhile, contended that the temple lacked authority to sell the property and that the land was Nazul land belonging to the government.
It also informed the court that it had filed a civil suit seeking cancellation of the sale deed, which is pending before the competent civil court.
In view of the circumstances, the court directed the State to deposit the unpaid sale consideration along with 8 per cent interest calculated after expiry of 15 days from the December 22, 2023 sale deed, in an interest-bearing fixed deposit in a nationalised bank in the name of the concerned civil court.
The amount is to be deposited within four weeks and will remain subject to orders in the pending civil suit.
