Click to play videoBhubaneshwar: A follow-up to an IBN Cobrapost investigations into the Orissa land scandal showed how Supreme Court guidelines were bypassed to allot land meant for the disadvantaged and war widows, to judges, who already own property.
Land that was meant for the economically disadvantaged, war widows and people with special needs was allotted to judges who owned not one but two and sometimes, even more, properties.
The investigations show how Supreme Court guidelines were bypassed and land that was otherwise meant for the economically disadvantaged, war widows and people with special needs was allotted to judges who own not just one but two properties.
In May 2007, Orissa High Court sitting judge, Justice L Mohapatra was allotted flat 11-13B-1332 by then Urban Development Minister KV Singh Deo. In Dec 2011, Justice Mohapatra wrote to the Cuttack Development Authority (CDA), asking for permission to sell the flat. He got permission, even as others who were granted plots under the quota were not allowed.
In March 2011, the letter from the CDA to Mohapatra valued the flat at Rs 14.9 lakhs, but a month earlier, on February 14, 2011, Mohapatra had already sold the flat to Pradeep Kumar Sethi for Rs 1 crore, ten months before he actually got the permission to sell.
The CDA's rules clearly state that once allotted, a plot cannot be sold for up to 4 years. If sold, the allotment is declared invalid. But special favours do seem to have been extended to senior judges.
Chief Justice GB Patnaik was allotted a D category plot in Sector 9 under the quota. He later exchanged it for a bigger plot in Sector 11 in violation of CDA guidelines.
Retired HC Justice Radhakrishna Patra's wife, Lakshmi, was allotted a D category flat in 1998. But in 2000, Justice Patra was also alloted a B category plot in Sector 11 using the same quota, constituting another violation.
Similarly, Justice Devpriya Mohapatra was initially allotted Plot No 10-3B 837 but in 2002, KV Singh Deo allotted him a bigger corner flat No 10-1B-1.
In 2000, Justice PK Tripathi got Plot No 10-1B-2 at Abhinav Bidanasi from Minister Sameer Dey's quota, when in fact he had already been allotted Plot No K8 A in Bhubaneswar's Kalinga Nagar Development Scheme back in1996 - again a violation.
In 1998, Justice BP Das, then a lawyer, was allotted a C category plot (Super - 2C-13). After becoming a judge, he asked for and got a 5000 square foot plot from the Minister's quota in February 2000.
Justice AK Paricha too was allowed to sell plot 6-GH-1353-D1 that he got from the Minister's quota to one Tapaswini Satpathy. But soon after, Paricha's wife was allotted Plot No 6B - 1646 in Sector 10 from Minister KV Singh Deo's quota.
Justive SS Das too was allowed to sell the C category plot he was allotted in February 2000 in exchange for a bigger B category flat in Sector 10.
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