Kannur: The state government will soon form a Devaswom Tribunal on the lines of the Munnar Tribunal to deal with the encroachment of lands owned by temples.
The tribunal will be headed by a retired judge. Apart from the land distributed under the Land Reforms Act, around 1 lakh acres of Devaswon land is found ‘missing’ across the state.
Though the plan was to introduce the bill during budget session, now it has been decided to issue an ordinance as the session is set to end on March 14.
The draft bill recommends the Tribunal to have jurisdiction over 3000 temples under the three main Devaswom Boards apart from Guruvayur and Koodalmanikyam temples. However, there are differences of opinion over bringing land disputes of temples owned by families and private trusts under the ambit of the tribunal.
Land­related cases pending before various courts are likely to be transferred to the tribunal.