MIDC told to issue notice to trustees of illegal temple

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has directed the Maharashtra Industrial Devel-opment Corporation (MIDC) to issue notices to the concerned officers and trustees behind the illegal construction of the “Bavkhaleshwar” temple, and to demand compensation from them.

Allegedly, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ganesh Naik, who has now been inducted into the BJP, supported the said construction. On Friday, the petitioner informed the court that the temple had already been demolished after the Supreme Court’s order but the government land was used illegally for more than ten years and the same needed to be compensated for.

A division bench of Chief Justice Pradip Nandrajog and Justice Bharti Dangre was hearing a plea filed by activist Sandip Thakur, seeking action against the government officers who helped construct the said temple and seeking monetary compensation from the concerned trustees.

During the hearing Friday, the MIDC told the court that an inquiry of the tainted officers was being carried out and that action would soon be taken against them. The bench then asked the MIDC as to who would compensate for using government land for illegal purposes for a decade. The court then directed the MIDC to issue notice to the concerned trustees and officers for compensation.

Meanwhile, Mr Thakur informed the court that Mr Naik was the guardian minister of Navi Mumbai at the time the temple was constructed. He also brought to the notice of the court that even Mr Naik’s name was not there in the trustees’ list but the address given in the documents of the trustees was that of Mr Naik.

In October 2018, the Supreme Court upheld a 2013 order of the Bombay high court razing the illegal construction of around 10,000 square metre on 1.4 lakh square metre MIDC land at Pawane.