Land row: Karnataka HC directs State govt. not to dispossess HMT from its land while asking company not to fell trees
The Karnataka High Court has issued an interim order preventing the state government from taking possession of land held by HMT Ltd. while simultaneously barring the company from cutting trees on the property. The dispute over whether the land qualifies as 'forest land' remains pending before the Supreme Court.
Why it matters
The case highlights the legal complexities surrounding land rights, environmental conservation, and the jurisdiction of state forest departments over PSU assets.
The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday restrained the State government from dispossessing HMT Ltd., a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), of its land situated in Jalahalli, Bengaluru, while restraining the PSU from felling any trees on the vacant land in its possession, other than the lands already alienated in favour of third parties.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the interim order on a petition filed by the company challenging the June 15 order passed by the authorised officer and Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Bengaluru Urban, asking HMT to hand over 430 acres and 21 guntas in the Peenya Plantation and Jarakabande Sandal Reserve to the Forest Department within 30 days after finding it to be “forest land”.
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