A Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Apex Court against the demolition of the “Corona Mata Mandir” which was constructed by a woman along with her husband in Pratapgarh District of Uttar Pradesh. The Court held that this is the “abuse of the process”. 

BACKGROUND

The “Corona Mata” temple was constructed at Juhi Shukulpur village in Pratapgarh, for seeking the blessings and divine grace for staying away from the infection. The Temple was established on 7th June, 2021 and was demolished on 11th June 2021 night. 

The village temple was constructed by Lokesh Kumar Srivastava with the help of donations and local residents. 

The idol of the “Corona Mata” was placed inside the Temple and Radhya Shyam Verma was appointed as the priest of the temple   

ACCUSATIONS

The villagers accused the police of demolishing the temple, however the police held that the site is disputed and the one of the parties involved in the dispute must have been responsible for the demolition. 

OWNERSHIP OF THE LAND 

Lokesh, who lives in Noida, jointly owns the land with Nagesh Kumar Srivastava and Jai Prakash Srivastava. He left the village for Noida after the temple was constructed. Nagesh in his complaint to police said the temple was constructed to grab the land.

PETITIONER’S CONTENTIONS 

The petitioner, Deepmala Srivastava, had moved the Supreme Court invoking the jurisdiction of the SC under Article 32 of the Constitution for infringement of Fundamental Right. 

JUDGMENT OF THE SUPREME COURT 

The bench of Supreme Court consisting of Justice S K Kaul and Justice M M Sundresh held that if the petitioner has filed the complaint on the grounds that this is her private land and the construction was done in accordance with the local norms, then she has not taken recourse to any appropriate legal remedy. 

The court further stated that the petitioner has not constructed temples for any other diseases which could affect the people of the country and the Court also noted that the land was disputed. A police complaint was made in this behalf. 

Furthermore, the Court held that “ We are of the view that this is clearly an abuse of the process of jurisdiction of this Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. The writ petition is dismissed with costs of Rs 5,000 to be deposited with the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Welfare Fund within four weeks."

PRESENT SCENARIO 

The bench deposed the plea and imposed a cost of Rs 5,000 on the petitioner, noting that the land on which the temple was built was disputed.