Other States - Orissa   

A century-old wait to stake claim

BERHAMPUR: It took more than a century for the members of the Ganjam Bar Association to initiate process to have legal occupation of the land on which the building of the Bar Association is located in the city.

This Bar Association is one of the oldest in the State. The land on which the Bar Association building is located has been in the possession of the Bar Association for 104 years. But as per the revenue records the said land is government land, which is under occupation of Ganjam Bar Association without any proper documentation.

The Roads and Building department of the state government maintains this building under possession of Bar Association. In 1968 the conference hall of the Bar Association was inaugurated by the then Law Minister, Haraprasad Mohapatra. Former members of this bar include several legal experts of national fame and judges of High Courts and Supreme Court.

The present secretary of the Ganjam Bar Association, Manoj Patnaik filed a civil suite in the court of civil judge, senior division, Ganjam-Gajapati last week urging the court to direct the Revenue Department to provide Record of Right (ROR) of 10,000 square foot of land to the Bar Association, which is under its adverse possession.

And the court has accepted the case. Mr Patnaik said this common legality regarding the ROR of the land on which the Bar Association building is located may have missed because no one in the revenue department ever thought it to be a serious issue during past 100 years. Mr Patnaik said having the ROR of the land had become necessary as without it the Bar Association was unable to get grant worth Rs 25 lakhs for its library from the High Court. Legal possession of the land would also enable the Bar to go for modernisation of the building with the help of bank loan and government grants.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

‘Dolls for adults’ come alive
A century-old wait to stake claim
Student found singed
Move to shift sorting offices flayed
15 students injured by lightning
Follow Bengal model on industry front: PRI
Brown sugar seized
OUAT seeks registration of two oilseed varieties
Bank fined for deficiency in service
Medico’s death: police book murder case
Naveen seeks interim relief of Rs. 750 cr.

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu