JOIN USRevenue department challenges High Court order
Those beneficiaries, who availed sites, were fighting legally for the past five years. Finally, the Forest Department had agreed in the court that the land bearing survey number 105 at Chara does not belong to them. Following this, the court had delivered verdict in favour of beneficiaries. However, now the Revenue Department’s move of appealing against the verdict through government advocate has put beneficiaries in a fix again.
The High Court had delivered verdict in favour of beneficiaries on June 10, 2009. The Revenue Department took a decision to challege the verdict after one year. The High Court has registered the appeal issued notice to the parties on Saturday.
Background
Sites in survey number 105 land in Chara was distributed among 244 beneficiaries in 2004. However, the Assistant Commissioner of Kundapur had cancelled the title deeds citing the reason that the land belongs to Forest Department, when poor beneficiaries were constructing houses in the site. Following this, beneficiaries had organised protest then.
Political parties too were engaged in verbal war in connection with the issue. Congress leaders were blaming that the title deeds were cancelled with malicious intention.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders blame that Karkala MLA Gopala Bhandari was distributing sites to undeserved people.
Beneficiaries had met Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar and appealed him to give them title deeds.
In the meantime, Jalaja Poojari and other beneficiaries had filed a complaint with the Lokayukta.
After conducting inquiry into the issue, the Lokayukta too had directed officials to return the land to beneficiaries. Later, beneficiaries approached the High Court when officials refused to issue title deeds to them.
‘Not forest land’
The Forest Department, which earlier made claim on the land, later had changed its stand.
The Department in a letter sent on September 27, 2009, had admitted that the land in dispute is not a reserve forest. There is no record with the Revenue Department to prove it as forest land.
The Forest Department had written that it is an agricultural and residential land and it does come under the Kudremukh Reserve Forest boundary.
‘We will fight in SC’
Chara Ashraya Sites Action Committee President Neere Krishna Shetty said, “we are ready to fight the case in the Supreme Court. It is an injustice that the Revenue Department is trying to grab poor’s land instead of providing land to them.”
MLA Bhandary said, “the government has proved its anti-poor stand by challenging the High Court verdict which favoured poor beneficiaries in Chara.”