Cuttack, May 5: A petition filed in Orissa High Court has sought review of its order related to unauthorised religious structures in the city.

On January 6, 2011 the high court had observed: “The religious institutions, which have been constructed after 1987, and do not find mention in the Record of Rights of 1987, and have been constructed over government land without permission from competent authorities, and cannot be regularised, should be demolished.”

There is need for review of the order as the state government had, nearly a year earlier, “framed a policy to deal with unauthorised constructions of religious nature that had already taken place prior to September 29, 2009, on case-to-case basis”. But the policy decision was not placed before the high court when the judgment was passed, the petition contends. A copy of the state government’s policy attached to the review petition specified that encroachment that does not cause traffic hazards, public nuisance or inconvenience to the public at large or where the land is not required for any public purpose “may be regularised for payment of such premium as may be decided by the government”.

The review petition was filed after the administration started its demolition drive against illegal religious structures in Cuttack city on May 1 to implement the high court order. The petition has been filed jointly by Adarsh Nagar Abasik Sangha, Residential Development Association Sri Sidha Mahavir Community Centre, Maa Tarini Development Committee, Maa Mangala Unnayan Parishad, Sri Ram Mandir Development Committee and Maa Basil Thakurani. All the groups are based in Markat Nagar.

“The division bench of Justice M.M. Das and Justice Indrajit Mahanty will take up the review petition for hearing on May 7, along with other petitions moved on behalf of religious institutions for intervention against demolition on plea of violation of the court order,” Ram Mandir Development Committee president Dayanidhi Lenka, who is an advocate, told The Telegraph.

A delegation of the Cuttack Mahanagar Shanti Committee met law minister Maheswar Mohanty yesterday on this issue. “We have pointed out contradictions between the demolition drive being carried out by the administration citing the high court order and the policy framed by the state government in pursuance of the Supreme Court’s direction. The law minister assured us that the law department would look into our grievance and take a decision by Monday,” Cuttack Mahanagar Shanti Committee president Debendra Sahu said today.