On a day when former BCCI boss N Srinivasan got a body blow from Supreme Court, the chieftain of Orissa cricket, Ashirbad Behera too got a major jolt with the Apex Court ordering a CAG audit of accounts of Behera’s Orissa Olympic Association that built business establishments on encroached government land for decades.

Behera, who is honorary secretary of Orissa Cricket Association and general secretary of Orissa Olympic Association has been accused of encroaching premium government land for furthering his own interests. OOA, the apex sports body for football, hockey, table tennis, basketball and the district athletic associations, had got 20 acres of government land on lease for construction of Barabati Stadium in 1949. But in the mid-70s, it encroached upon 2 acres adjacent vacant government land. But in 1986 the OOA sub-leased the encroached land and developed various business establishments including a sprawling marriage mandap and over a dozen business establishments. A private agency INCON Associates had constructed a marriage mandap named Barabati Palace.

In November last year, a single judge bench of Justice BP Ray of Orissa High Court had ordered the Cuttack district collector to take possession of properties on 0.705 acres of encroached land adjacent to the 20.808 acres that the state government had granted on lease to the OOA in 1949 for construction of Barabati stadium. The Association filed a special leave petition against the HC order last year.

In its interim order yesterday , a two judge bench of justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant directed that the accounts in respect of Barabati Palace and 23 shops standing on the encroached government land would be made by the Accountant General of Orissa within a period of six weeks. The report of the Accountant General would be given to SC.

The bench also ordered formation of a Management committee Cuttack Collector and 2 Additional District Magistrates who would take over possession of Barabati Palace and the 23 shops on the encroached land. It also ordered that INCON Associates from today onwards would not give on rent Barabati Palace for marriage functions.

All the 23 three shopkeepers would pay the rent to the Managing Committee. The income from the date of taking over possession of the business establishments on the encroached land would be kept in State Bank of India bank account. The matter would come up for hearing again in March 24.

In the November 2014 order, the HC had directed the State CID to probe into the affairs of the OOA, the custodian of Barabati Stadium, and submit its report within 3 months as the affairs of the OOA were prima facie not clean and its entire deal was malafide. The HC said OOA had permitted INCON Associates, a private agency to construct the Barabati Palace on the encroached land and later signed an agreement with it while the dispute was pending before the subordinate court.Referring to Ashirbad Behera, justice BP Ray observed that view that the assets of OOA had become “the parental property of some individuals”.

Incidentally, Barabati Palace was inaugurated by former chief minister JB Patnaik in January 1999.