The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition by Mahant Naga Baba Shankar Giri, seeking to demarcate the property of a shrine at Triveni Ghat, Nigambodh Ghat. The court warned that permitting sadhus to build shrines on public land would have disastrous consequences.
The petitioner claimed possession of the property before the 2006 deadline set by the Delhi Special Laws Act and expressed concerns about demolition after officials dismantled nearby structures in February 2023. He argued that the shrine was at imminent risk of demolition by the Flood Control and Irrigation Department of the Delhi government.
However, the court found no merit in the petition, stating that the petitioner had no legal right to continue occupying the property. The court described the petitioner as a “rank trespasser” and emphasized that long-term occupation does not confer any legal rights.
“It is but apparent that he is a rank trespasser and merely for the fact that he has been a cultivator for 30 years or more does not bestow with him any legal right, title or interest to continue to occupy the subject property,” the high court stated.
The court also noted that the constructed structures, including two rooms with tin sheds and a shrine, had no historical significance or public dedication for worship. The revered baba, for whom the shrine was built, died in 1996, but there was no evidence of the place being of historical or public significance.
