Bhubaneswar, Aug. 22: The municipal corporation has been accused of violating a status quo ordered by Orissa High Court on a 12-acre plot in Chandrasekharpur and undertaking the construction of a night shelter.

Ignoring norms and laws, the civic body had laid the foundation of the night shelter on the plot last year and began work at an estimated cost of Rs 30 lakh. Besides, a number of pucca houses have also come up on the disputed land.

The land in question originally belonged to the royal family of Kankia, a small estate near Kendrapara.

The ex-intermediary of the Kanika estate used to give land in the possession of the royal family to various people on rent. They were called the "tenants".

In July 1941, the land was given to the present claimant Bishnu Charan Pradhan's father Chemei for agricultural purposes on rent. Chemei was paying rent regularly to the ex-intermediary till the estate was vested with the state government after the Orissa Estate Abolition Act, 1951, came into force. Eventually, the tenants, who held the property when the law came into force, became the owners. They were asked to pay rent to the government thereafter.

The state government continued to accept the rent from the land till 1961. However, the problem for Chemei cropped up when Chandrasekharpur was amalgamated with the Bhubaneswar tehsil of the Puri district. Thereafter, neither Cuttack tehsil, nor Bhubaneswar accepted rent from Chemei on the ground that relevant records for the land were not available. However, the state government had issued him an encumbrance certificate that showed the land belonged to Chemei.

The land, however, falls in Khurda district. Since then the 78-year-old Bishnu has been waging a lone battle to save his parental property. Unable to pay rent, Bishnu filed a plea with the high court on July 16, 2012. The court then ordered maintaining status quo on the land in the same year.

On being asked how the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) was going ahead with the construction of the night shelter on the disputed land, local ward councillor Monalisha Sahu said: "We have got land clearance from the corporation and accordingly started construction of the shelter. I am not aware of the fact that it is disputed land. As the work is nearing completion, I can't do anything about it at the moment."

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena told The Telegraph: "Any kind of construction on a land where the court has asked for maintenance of status quo is illegal. I will take another look at the file."

Bishnu said: "I have spent a lot of money to fight the case to save this property. I have approached the police and even the court. But, despite my efforts, I have so far not been successful in saving the property. I want justice from the government."

Stating that he has already approached the high court, Bishnu said: "I wonder when status quo is being maintained on the land, how the BMC could go ahead with the construction and encourage others to settle on the land. I will move court again."

Bishnu had moved the high court challenging the claim of the land officials in Bhubaneswar and got the status quo order from the court.

"Once status quo is maintained, no one can take up any construction activity on the land," said a legal expert.