Plea challenges allocation of land on BU campus

A PIL petition has urged the high court to cancel the allotment of land within the campus of Bangalore University (BU).

The court has ordered issuing notices to the state government, Bangalore University (BU) and other respondents.

The petitioner, advocate K B Vijaya Kumar, challenged the June 24, 2020, allotment of 15 acres of land to the Inter University Centre for Yogic Sciences and 10 acres of land to the Central University of Karnataka at the biopark on the BU campus.

The petitioner contended that the allocation of land and construction of office buildings would destroy flora and fauna of the biopark spread over
more than 100 acres.

He stated the land allotment was a violation of the university’s resolution passed on May 17, 2017, not to allot more land. He urged the court to direct the university to explore land outside the biopark and reallocate it with government approval. The petitioner also prayed for declaring the biopark a deemed forest land.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay S Oka posted the next hearing in the matter to February 26. “It is made clear that all steps taken by the tenth respondent (Inter University Centre for Yogic Sciences) on the basis of the lease dated 24th June 2020 will be subject to the further orders to be passed by this court,” the court said.