Department could have lost 517 acre of reserved forest in BM Kaval as it access to a High Court order ruling the land in favour of one M B Nemane Gowda.
Credit: DH Photo.
Bengaluru: Karnataka's Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre on Friday ordered a crackdown on cases where forged documents were being used to grab forest land and expressed shock at government advocates for failing to bring the department to speed on key cases.
The minister had called an emergency meeting of senior officers in the afternoon following a report by DH under the title, 'Karnataka forest dept stares at losing Rs 30k crore land'.
The report noted that the department may lose 517 acre of reserved forest in BM Kaval because it got access to a High Court order ruling the land in favour of one M B Nemane Gowda.
During the three-hour-long meeting, Khandre was briefed about the matter in detail. Expressing surprise at the High Court giving judgment in the matter within 17 days after the writ petition was filed, the minister directed officials to file an appeal immediately. Notably, the land was declared as a State Forest as far back as 1935.
"The claim (by Gowda) says that 532 acre of Bengaluru land was granted by Hassan division's special deputy commissioner for Inam Abolition. Does the law permit the special deputy commissioner, Hassan, sanction land in Bengaluru? Don't the jurisdictional limits apply to him? Officials should ensure these details are submitted before the court," he said.
Pulls up advocates
Khandre pulled up the government advocates for not providing information about crucial cases until the last minute. He also questioned why they were ruling cases as 'not fit for appeal' even when they knew that the cases merits an appeal.
The minister asked officials to focus on the six or seven districts where encroachments and land grabbing attempts were rampant due to the high value of the land.
He advised the additional advocate general to appoint efficient advocates for arguing the case. "There appears to be a larger conspiracy to grab forest land by creating forged documents. Cases should be booked against those trying to steal government land," he said.
Khandre also questioned why a case was not registered against Nemana Gowda though a tahsildar had ordered officials to do it in a case where forged documents were allegedly used to grab land.
"Action should be taken against such officials and those helping the land grabbers," he said.