Madhya Pradesh High Court restores government ownership of land worth Rs 200 crore linked to Maa Baglamukhi Temple in Nalkheda. The Indore bench dismissed an appeal filed by Sanat Kumar and others, upholding findings that the 1997 decree used to claim the land was fraudulent, forged, and obtained by suppressing facts. This brings closure to a two-decade-old dispute over temple property.
The legal conflict began in 1997 when petitioners secured a civil court decree by concealing key documents. In 2007, the Additional District Judge of Agar declared the decree void, citing forged papers and a suspicious will. The High Court agreed, noting that the original suit failed to include the temple deity or its management as necessary parties despite involving religious property. Additional Advocate General Anand Soni presented extensive revenue records, Waqf Committee documents, papers relating to traditional guru-chela succession, and earlier judgments. The court accepted that evidence clearly established the land as temple or Dharamshala property.
District authorities moved late Friday night to reclaim possession. Shopkeepers operating on disputed land cleared out goods as teams arrived with machinery to begin eviction. Collector Preeti Yadav warned that any fresh attempts at encroachment or fraudulent claims would face strict action. Records show the land has been formally registered under the Shri Ram Mandir Administrator since 2006-07, represented by the district Collector.
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