India News | MP Govt Gets Ownership of 246 Charitable Properties of Holkars
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Indore/ The Madhya Pradesh High Court has declared the state government as the titleholder of 246 charitable properties of Holkars, the erstwhile rulers of Indore.
Indore/Bhopal, Oct 6 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh High Court has declared the state government as the titleholder of 246 charitable properties of Holkars, the erstwhile rulers of Indore.
In its ruling on Monday, the high court also ordered a probe into alleged financial and other irregularities in management of these properties spread across several states.
The HC decision came on a bunch of petitions filed with regard to these properties. A division bench of Justices SC Sharma and Shailendra Shukla gave a detailed order running into 118 pages.
The bench, in its order, said The State of Madhya Pradesh is directed to take all possible steps to preserve the cultural heritage including the ghats, temples, dharamshalas, which find place in the trust property, being the titleholder of the property in question.
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The State of Madhya Pradesh shall also take appropriate action in accordance with law against all those persons, who have allegedly illegally sold the Khasgi (Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Charities) Trust's property from time to time.
The court also directed the state government to take all possible measures to preserve these properties for future generations as they are symbols of cultural heritage.
The Khasgi Trust was established for maintenance of charitable properties of Holkars after India's independence which also led to the end of princely states.
Out of the 246 properties managed by the Khasgi Trust, 138 are temples, 18 Dharamshalas, 34 Ghats, 12 canopies, 24 gardens and water bodies, among others.
These properties are spread across Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and some other states of the country.
Meanwhile, welcoming the high court judgement, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan termed it as a very important" ruling.
Chouhan also directed an Economic Offences Wing (EOW) probe into illegal sale of these properties, unauthorised constructions in them and other irregularities, an official release issued in Bhopal said on Tuesday.
The directive was given in the light of the HC judgement, it said.
The chief minister said action will be taken against those who have sold the trust's properties in an illegal manner. The government will take all possible measures to regain control on these assets, the release said.
Chouhan said a committee will be constituted in the revenue department to oversee and maintain these properties, it said.
Illegal construction on these properties will be removed to restore their originality, the release said. PTI
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)