HC bins plea against govt hospital on gomala land

The diversion of a portion of gomala land (land reserved for cattle grazing) for building a super-speciality hospital in Kolar district is not unreasonable but of undeniable necessity, the High Court of Karnataka orally observed on Wednesday. It went on to dismiss a petition against the hospital.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari passed the order on a petition filed by T V Narayanaswamy, of Thimmasandra village, Kolar, against a government order issued on October 24, 2017.

The government order had stated that 25 acres of land in Survey No 131 in R Thimmasandra village was taken out for the gomala land and
allotted to the Health and Family Welfare Department for building a super-speciality hospital.

According to the petitioner, a total of 134.17 acres was reserved for cattle grazing in Survey 131 but the government reduced it by 25 acres and allotted it for the hospital.

In its order, the court stated that the impugned government order was issued to observe an essential requirement of public healthcare facilities and that the court is unable to find that setting up a super-speciality hospital would harm any public cause. Building such a hospital is actually of undeniable necessity.