Supreme Court: Holding the Orissa Olympic Association has encroached upon Government land by constructing 23 shops and ‘Kalyan Mandap’ over it, the bench Dipak Misra and P.C. Pant, JJ directed the Collector, Cuttack to take over possession of the said shops and the ‘Kalyan Mandap and said that the government, if it decides to manage the properties by entering into fresh agreement, is at liberty to do so.
In the present case, INCON Associates had entered into a Tenancy agreement with the Association in respect of the aforementioned properties. Regarding the allegation that the arrangement was made with the sole purpose of benefiting INCON Associates as one of the partners of the INCON Associates is the son of the General Secretary, the Court held that the arrangement entered into by the association with INCON Associates is absolutely illegal and there is a conflict of interest since the Secretary’s son and son-in-law have been inducted as partners in the concerned firm. Hence, it was held that as the conflict of interest is obvious and the Secretary, who is accountable to the public, has failed to conduct himself as required under the law, he is debarred from contesting for any post in the association.
The Bench said that that there is revenue loss as the audit report of the Accountant General is appreciated and that the Secretary of the association could not have been instrumental in unauthorised construction on the government land and in generating revenue therefrom. Noticing that there is a serious concern about the nature of revenue generation utilisation and the loss sustained, the Court said that there is something rotten in the management of the affairs in fiscal aspects.
Stating that the Department of Revenue shall be entitled to continue the tenancy and maintain the Kalyan Mandap and manage the affairs of the said property through District Collector, Cuttack, the Court barred the tenants or any other interested person from instituting any litigation in any manner in respect of the said property.
The Court also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate into the matter keeping in view the report of the Accountant General and the other aspects which pertain to 23 shops and the Kalyan Mandap. [Orissa Olympic Association v. State of Orissa, 2017 SCC OnLine SC 343, decided on 03.04.2017]
