Govt will publish dist-wise details of encroached land, HC told

The Karnataka Public Lands Corporation Ltd on Tuesday submitted to the High Court that the government had agreed to publish district-wise and taluk-wise details pertaining to the location and measurement of government land encroached upon in the State.

Hearing a public interest litigation filed by Samaja Parivarthana Samudaya (SPS) seeking directions to the government to recover encroached government forest and revenue land, the bench asked the government how long it would take to recover the encroached land.

The petitioners have sought directions from the court to implement the recommendations made by the A T Ramaswamy Committee and V Balasubramanian Committee reports on encroached government land. The government counsel said eviction cannot be carried out until notices are issued and said it would take more time.

The counsel representing small farmers said that in the name of eviction, government was damaging the forest land.

The advocate representing SPS sought orders to be passed by the court, to which the bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice R B Budihal asked the counsels to complete their argument, and adjourned the next hearing to December 19.

Appeal dismissed

The High Court on Tuesday dismissed the writ petition filed by G Srinivas, a farmer, alleging irregularities in the land acquisition by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Ltd for construction of a road.

Srinivas had alleged that the acquisition proceedings were contrary to the project originally approved by the State government and claimed that the notification for acquiring the land was “fraudulently” issued.

The government, however, objected to the petition and contended that there were no illegalities. It was further contended that the issue was also pending before the apex court for a decision on the legality of the acquisition process.

The division bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice R B Budihal, observed that there was no valid, justifiable ground available in the appeal and dismissed it.