Govt takes control of Barbati Palace following HC order

A day after Orissa High Court directed Cuttack district administration to take possession of encroached government land adjacent to Barabati stadium, the Cuttack Sadar tehsildar today acquired around 800 decimal of land and property on it.
The property includes a sprawling marriage mandap and over a dozen business establishments.
Taking possession of the property, the tehsildar pronounced that henceforth, the business on the property would be directly dealt by the district administration as per the High Court order.
"Anyone interested to run business on the property or take the marriage mandap (Barabati Palace) on rent shall contact Cuttack Sadar tehsildar," said a notice of district administration pasted on various constructions on the land.

Odisha Olympic Association (OOA), which had got 20 acres of government land on lease basis for construction of Barabati Stadium way back in 1949, subsequently encroached upon two acres adjacent vacant government land in mid-70s.
However, when Asirbad Behera became OOA secretary in 1986, he sub-leased the encroached land and developed various business establishments on it and amassed great riches.

Challenging the encroachment, the state government in 2000 filed an eviction case. But Behera contested it in a civil court and in 2002 managed to obtain a favourable decree in his favour. The state government then moved the High Court against the judgment of the lower court.

In an interim order passed by the High Court on Saturday, a single judge bench of Justice B P Ray asked the Cuttack district administration to take possession of the encroached land and also directed the State crime branch police to probe into the shoddy affairs of the OOA.
When contacted, Behera, who is also secretary of the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA)-the richest sporting body of the state, said he would take appropriate legal steps after going through the orders of the High Court.
He said the impugned land is in possession of OOA for last 40 years and income from the property is being spent on developing sporting activities in the state.