A single-judge Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, comprising Justice N. Venkateswarlu, has posted to February 17 the case that pertains to the proposed transfer of 6.53 acres of agricultural land belonging to the Sri Bhogeswara Swamy temple at Kolanukonda village of Tadepalli mandal in Guntur district to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on lease for 33 years for the development of a ‘cultural pavilion’.
A few farmers in possession of the temple land on lease and whose term was yet to expire had challenged the G.O. Ms. No. 338 (dated November 26, 2021), through which the government had made the impugned allotment (of land) to the ISKCON Trust, Bengaluru, for an annual lease of ₹60,000 per acre (to be enhanced at the rate of 10% every three years), and a couple of other G.O.s issued to make the required amendments to the AP Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Lease of Agricultural Lands Rules of 2003.
The petitioners argued that they were paying more lease (approximately ₹86,000) than what was offered by ISKCON (₹60,000 per acre per annum) and that they had made an application to the Endowments Department expressing their willingness to establish a permanent structure that would be useful to the poor Hindus and for tourism purpose, for which an enquiry was conducted in May 2019, but to no avail as there had since been no response, and the said G.O.s were issued without taking the objections raised by the public into consideration.
Prime location
They further said that the land caught the fancy of the realtors due to its prime location abutting the Kolkata-Chennai National Highway, and that ISKCON was falling a prey to their machinations, which were glaring from the fact that the real estate developers had not set their sights on the lands belonging to the Kasi Visweswara Swamy temple nearby, which were not conducive for their business.
In this context, the G.O.s should be set aside and the respondents (Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Endowments, Executive Officer of Sri Bhogeswara Swamy temple, and ISKCON) directed to conduct an auction as per law by keeping in view the public sentiment and the consequences of converting the land for non-agricultural purpose, the petitioners appealed.
