NDLI: Ardhendu Kumar Das Vs. The State of Odisha and Ors.

Content Provider	Supreme Court of India
e-ISSN	30484839
Language	English
Access Restriction	NDLI
Subject Keyword	Archaeological Sites: Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 20D 20C 1958 – ss.2
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Law Judgement
Jurisdiction	India
Case(s) Referred	Referred Case 0
Case Type	Appeal
Court	Supreme Court of India
Disposal Nature	Appeal Dismissed
Headnote	Archaeological Sites: Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 – ss. 2, 20C, 20D – Public work or project essential to the public – PIL filed before High Court challenging construction undertaken by respondent Nos. 1 and 2 within the prohibited area of the Shree Jagannath Temple complex on the ground that it contravened provisions of the 1958 Act – Their grievance in the instant appeal was that High Court did not grant an interim order restraining respondents from proceeding further with the construction – Held: All the provisions of the 1958 Act have to be read harmoniously – When sub-section (4) of s. 20A of the Act is read in harmony with clause (dc) of s. 2 and the provisions of s. 20C and s. 20D of the Act, the submission that no construction at all can be made in the prohibited area or the regulated area would be unsustainable – Competent authority has complied with the procedure as required under s. 20D of the Act and the National Monuments Authority has granted its permission for the work, which is undertaken – The legislature has deliberately excluded four categories from the definition of “construction” – The purpose behind it appears to be that the repairs and renovation of the buildings, which are existing and the constructions which are necessary for providing basic facilities like drainage, toilets, water supply and distribution of electricity should be kept out of the rigour of requirement of statutory permissions – The argument that the said provision is only to enable a person who resides in the prohibited area to get his existing structure re-constructed, repaired and renovated and the said provision cannot come to the aid of the State to create facilities for the public is rejected – If an individual person can construct a toilet in a prohibited area, so can the State, when the State finds it necessary to do it in the larger public interest for providing basic facilities to the lakhs of devotees visiting the shrine – The activities undertaken by State are completely in tune with the directions issued by this Court in the case of Mrinalini Padhi – They are necessary in the larger public interest and there is no prohibition in the statute for doing so, as sought to be argued by the appellants – High Court also recorded the statement of Advocate General that both the ASI and the State Government would work together to ensure that no archaeological remains are missed out or damaged – PIL filed before the High Court rather than being in public interest, is detrimental to the public interest at large – Frivolous petitions encroach upon a valuable judicial time which could be otherwise utilized for considering genuine issues – The appeals, having been found to be without any substance, are dismissed with costs, quantified at Rs.1,00,000/- each, payable by the appellants to respondent No.1 within four weeks – Public interest litigation. Public interest litigation: Practice of filing frivolous petitions – Deprecated – Frivolous petitions are nothing but abuse of process of law – They encroach upon a valuable judicial time which could be otherwise utilized for considering genuine issues – It is high time that such so-called public interest litigations are nipped in the bud so that the developmental activities in the larger public interest are not stalled.
Judge	Hon'ble Mr. Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai
Neutral Citation	2022 INSC 638
Petitioner	Ardhendu Kumar Das
Respondent	The State Of Odisha And Ors.
SCR	[2022] 15 S.C.R. 358
Judgement Date	2022-06-03
Case Number	4515

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Ardhendu Kumar Das Vs. The State of Odisha and Ors.

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Ardhendu Kumar Das Vs. The State of Odisha and Ors.

Ardhendu Kumar Das Vs. The State of Odisha and Ors.

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Ardhendu Kumar Das Vs. The State of Odisha and Ors.