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.

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.  

The petitioner has contended that they were granted around 320 acres of land way back in 1870s and 1880s.

Kappatagudda case
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.’

A division bench headed by Chief Justice S K Mukherjee had earlier restrained the government from issuing the final notification.

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.
DH News Service