HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL) No. - 2341 of 2026 Court No. - 51 HON'BLE ARUN KUMAR, J. 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned Standing Counsel for the State respondent nos. 1 to 3 and Sri Bhupendra Kumar Tripathi for the respondent no. 4 Gaon Sabha. 2. The present petition has been filed for the following relief:- "I- Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus the concerned respondents to remove the illegal encroachment/building on the arazi no.351 Abadi/inhabited category (6) land, which has been shown as Devsthal bhumi (Hanuman Mandir) as per the report of Lekhpal/revenue record serial no. 198, provisional plot no. 198, situated at village-Ukranv/Unkraon, Tehsil - Jakhaniya, District Ghazipur within some specific time." 3. It is contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner that in abadi plot no. 351 there exist a Devsthan having a temple of Lord Hanuman where the villagers pray. In the Gharaunis being prepared under the Uttar Pradesh Abadi Survey and Record Operation Regulations, 2020, the Devsthan has been allotted Plot No. 198. It is further contended that the respondent no. 5, 6 & 7 are constructing boundary around it and are encroaching upon the survey plot no. 198. 4. I have considered the submissions made by counsel for the petitioner and perused the record. 5. The survey report annexed as Annexure 2 to the writ petition only Versus Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Mukhtesh Kumar, Rajesh Tripathi Counsel for Respondent(s) : Bhupendra Kumar Tripathi, C.S.C. Veeru @ Beeru Pandey .....Petitioner(s) State Of U.P. And 6 Others .....Respondent(s) shows that on abadi plot no. 198 there is a Devsthan having road and pathway on three sides and house of one Vishwanath on the south. No area of the land is mentioned. There is nothing on record to show the identity of survey plot no. 198 in the village map. Admittedly, Devsthan (Hanuman Ji Mandir) is an old temple constructed in the village abadi where it is claimed that the villagers offers their prayers and as the temple is not a private temple, the respondent nos. 5 to 7 cannot be permitted to enclose it by a boundary wall. 6. The existence of temple in the village abadi in itself does not establish that it is a public temple. The claim of the petitioner that the villagers offer their prayers in the said temple existing over the village abadi plot no. 351 is a fact which has to be proved by leading evidence, which cannot be appreciated on the basis of affidavits, nor a direction can be issued for demolition of any construction on the basis of affidavit in absence of any documentary evidence on record to establish the existence of the temple, as a public property and its area in the village abadi. 7. In the aforesaid circumstances, the petitioner and the villagers of village Unkraon have an appropriate remedy in filing a suit to establish their public right by user over the temple and the land over which it exists, by leading appropriate evidence in support of their claim. 8. The present petition is disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to avail the appropriate remedy available to him under common law. September 30, 2026 Ranjeet Sahu WPIL No. 2341 of 2026 2 (Arun Kumar,J.) Digitally signed by :- RANJEET SAHU High Court of Judicature at Allahabad