Karnataka HC upholds land acquisition to protect DRDO’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics project area

A Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court has upheld the acquisition of about 1.27 acres of additional land in Bennegahalli in Bengaluru for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), bringing to an end a decades-old legal dispute.

The acquisition was set aside by a single judge in 2014 on the ground that landowners were not properly heard during the process of considering objections, but the Division Bench has now validated the acquisition, which was vital for the DRDO to protect the area around its sensitive Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR).

A Division Bench comprising Justice D.K. Singh and Justice H. Shanthi Bhushan passed the order while allowing the appeals filed way back in 2015 by the Union government and the DRDO challenging the single judge’s order.