Cuttack, Nov. 29: Orissa High Court today refused to take up for hearing two petitions filed as public interest litigations seeking judicial intervention against alleged sale and leasing out of the Swargadwara crematorium land along Puri beach, as they were not supported by affidavits.

The two-judge bench of Chief Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice B.N. Mohapatra expected the petitioners to file affidavits saying they had verified facts on their own before filing the public interest petitions. The bench, however, granted the petitioners time till the petitions came up for hearing tomorrow.

Secretary of Nationalist Lawyers Forum Nishikanta Mishra and D.N. Lenka (a member of the High Court Bar Association) had filed two separate petitions seeking an inquiry and direction for “appropriate action against erring officers” for “encroachment and illegal construction” on the crematorium land.

The petitions sought restoration of the land to the Shankaracharya of Govardhan Pitha and prohibition of “any construction in and around the crematorium land” and direction for “removal of any construction already made”.

Jagannath Sena, a Puri-based voluntary organisation, has lodged a complaint with police against panchyati raj minister Maheswar Mohanty for his alleged involvement in the transfer of the crematorium land during his tenure as chairman of Puri Municipality.