JUDGMENT

V. Gopala Gowda, J.

1. Leave granted in the Special Leave Petitions.

2. The present appeals arise out of the impugned judgment and order dated 07.07.2009 passed in Original Jurisdiction Case No. 2421 of 2000 and other Writ Petitions which were disposed of in terms of the judgment dated 07.07.2009 by the High Court of Orissa at Cuttack, whereby the High Court allowed the Writ Petitions filed by the Respondents herein and held that as the disputed land was earlier settled in the name of Shri Jagannath Mahaprabhu Bije Puri, Marfat Siddha Brundaban Ramanuj Das and thus, the subsequent settlement made in favour of the Temple Managing Committee in OEA Claim Case No. 68/90 was without jurisdiction.

3. As the facts in all the appeals are common, for the sake of convenience, we refer to the facts of Civil Appeal No. 7729 of 2009, which are stated in brief hereunder:

The present case revolves around the ancient temple of Lord Jagannath of Puri. The lands in question have been accorded the status of 'amrutamanohi' properties. On 18.03.1974, the State Government of Orissa issued a notification Under Section 3A of the Orissa Estate Abolition Act, 1951 (hereinafter referred to as the "OEA Ac