Revenue worth Rs 51,914 cr locked up in courts

The opposition, Congress, has stepped up pressure on the Govt in the assembley

The Opposition Congress today stepped up the ante on the Naveen Patnaik led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in the assembly over mounting revenue arrear cases worth Rs 51,914.13 crore in different courts of law.

Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Narsingha Mishra flayed the government for its callousness in recovering the dues.

“At a time when we are crying for money and need money to fund development projects, the callousness of this government is baffling. Steps should be taken to ensure that the pending cases are disposed off soon,” Mishra said.

Another Congress MLA Naba Kishore Das said, “Mining revenue of Rs 65,000 crore is still pending. The house needs to be informed if this government is serious on recovering the dues and if the government is thinking of one time settlement (OTS) to expedite collection.”

A total of 7,180 cases are still pending in the Supreme Court, Odisha High Court and other courts. Cases pertaining to mining revenue worth Rs 46,191.69 crore are pending in different courts, of which revenue claims of Rs 218.19 crore are awaiting disposal at the Odisha High Court. The pendency in commercial taxes has reached Rs 3,563.28 crore including Rs 228.91 crore in the Supreme Court, Rs 1,676.82 crore in the Odisha High Court and Rs 1,657.55 crore in other courts. Similarly, the Odisha High Court is yet to dispose off 26 cases on water cess dues worth Rs 738.89 crore. As many as 26 cases on electricity bill dues worth Rs 1,367.99 crore are also pending in various courts.

The state government is unable to realise Rs 52.29 crore of Forest Development Tax (FDT) as 150 cases are waiting to be disposed off by the Odisha High Court.