<p>In a setback to the state government, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday quashed the government order directing coffee plantations to vacate the Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary.<br /><br />Disposing of a petition filed by Emerald Estates Ltd and others, a division bench headed by Justice S K Mukherjee in its order said that the CCF cannot pass an order as it is the jurisdiction of the Forest Settlement Officer. CCF had issued a notice to the petitioner in December 2015 saying that the coffee estate is not compatible with the BRT tiger reserve. <br /><br />The petitioner has contended that they were granted around 320 acres of land way back in 1870s and 1880s.<br /><br />Kappatagudda case<br />The Karnataka High Court on Thursday refused to interfere in a PIL seeking directions to the state to restrain it from issuing the final notification in declaring Kappatagudda in Gadag district as a ‘conservation reserve forest.’<br /><br />A division bench headed by Chief Justice S K Mukherjee had earlier restrained the government from issuing the final notification. <br /><br />However, Advocate General Madhusudan R Naik informed that the court cannot interfere in the matter as the petition was not filed with bonafide intentions. He said the government is yet to take a decision and the matter is before the State Wildlife Board.<br />DH News Service<br /></p>
<p>In a setback to the state government, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday quashed the government order directing coffee plantations to vacate the Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary.<br /><br />Disposing of a petition filed by Emerald Estates Ltd and others, a division bench headed by Justice S K Mukherjee in its order said that the CCF cannot pass an order as it is the jurisdiction of the Forest Settlement Officer. CCF had issued a notice to the petitioner in December 2015 saying that the coffee estate is not compatible with the BRT tiger reserve. <br /><br />The petitioner has contended that they were granted around 320 acres of land way back in 1870s and 1880s.<br /><br />Kappatagudda case<br />The Karnataka High Court on Thursday refused to interfere in a PIL seeking directions to the state to restrain it from issuing the final notification in declaring Kappatagudda in Gadag district as a ‘conservation reserve forest.’<br /><br />A division bench headed by Chief Justice S K Mukherjee had earlier restrained the government from issuing the final notification. <br /><br />However, Advocate General Madhusudan R Naik informed that the court cannot interfere in the matter as the petition was not filed with bonafide intentions. He said the government is yet to take a decision and the matter is before the State Wildlife Board.<br />DH News Service<br /></p>