Summary
Intervenors in a public interest petition before the Orissa High Court challenged the State's construction of toilets, cloak rooms, shelter pavilions, an electrical room and pavements within the 100-metre prohibited area of the Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri, contending that Section 20A(4) of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 bars every permission for construction in a prohibited area after the 2010 amendment and that the National Monuments Authority's no-objection was beyond its powers. The High Court had declined an interim injunction after recording the Advocate General's assurances. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeals with costs of Rs 1 lakh each.
Issues
- Whether Section 20A(4) of the 1958 Act prohibits the State from constructing toilets, cloak rooms, drains, electrical rooms and pavements for pilgrims within the prohibited area of a centrally protected monument.
- Whether the National Monuments Authority and the notified competent authority could permit such works under Sections 20C and 20D, and whether the works were consistent with the Supreme Court's directions in Mrinalini Padhi.
- Whether the public interest litigation and the appeals deserved costs as an abuse of process.
Provisions considered
- Section 2(da), (db), (dc); Sections 20A, 20C and 20D, Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958Section 2(dc) deliberately excludes re-construction, repair and renovation of existing structures, drains and public latrines, water supply and electricity works from 'construction'; read with Sections 20C and 20D, which provide for applications to the competent authority and binding recommendations of the NMA, Section 20A(4) cannot be read as forbidding such basic amenities in the prohibited area, else Section 20C would be otiose. The Director, Culture, Odisha was the notified competent authority and the NMA's no-objection of 04.09.2021 was validly obtained for the works. (¶¶ 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 40, 41, 42, 44, 51)
Held
- All provisions of a statute must be read harmoniously; the legislature consciously kept repairs and reconstruction of existing structures and essential facilities like public latrines, drains, water supply and electricity distribution outside the definition of 'construction' so that they may be provided even in the prohibited area, and an interpretation rendering Section 20C redundant must be avoided. (¶¶ 40, 41, 42, 51)
- The works — toilets for men and women, cloak rooms, electrical rooms and queue areas — carry out the directions of the three-Judge Bench in Mrinalini Padhi for decongestion and basic amenities for lakhs of pilgrims; the ASI's Director General agreed that they may be allowed with the ASI coordinating on design, the reception centre partly within 100 metres is being shifted to the regulated area, and the State and the ASI will work together so that no archaeological remains are damaged. (¶¶ 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 45, 46, 47, 54, 57)
- If an individual may construct a toilet in a prohibited area under Section 20C, the State cannot be denied the right to do so in the larger public interest for devotees; the contention that the provision aids only private residents was rejected. (¶ 52)
- The petition, rather than serving the public interest, was detrimental to it; the mushroom growth of 'publicity interest' or 'personal interest' litigations that encroach on judicial time and stall developmental activities is deprecated and such petitions should be nipped in the bud. The appellants' repeated urgent mentionings before the Vacation Bench were also noted. (¶¶ 56, 58, 59)
Result
Appeals dismissed with costs of Rs 1,00,000 each payable by the appellants to the State of Odisha within four weeks; the Orissa High Court's order of 09.05.2022 in W.P.(C) No. 6257 of 2022 undisturbed and the construction of amenities around the Shree Jagannath Temple held lawful.