India News | Undue Favour Given to Vedanta: SC Upholds Quashing of Land Acquisition for University in Odisha

New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI) In a blow to the Vedanta group, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the the Orissa High Court's 2010 decision of quashing the proceedings initiated by the state government to acquire about 6,000 acres of land to establish a university.

Coming down heavily on the state government, the top court said "undue favour" was given to Vedanta and the entire acquisition proceedings and the benefits, which were proposed by the state government, were "vitiated by favouritism".

Also Read | Bengaluru Shocker: Woman Who Went to File Divorce Complaint Molested and Sexually Harassed by Police Personnel.

A bench of Justice MR Shah and Justice Krishna Murari also imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakh on the Anil Agarwal Foundation to be deposited with the registrar of the top court within six weeks from Wednesday.

"It is not appreciable why the government offered such an undue favour in favour of one trust/company. Thus, the entire acquisition proceedings and the benefits, which were proposed by the state government were vitiated by favouritism and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India," the bench said.

Also Read | Gerard Depardieu Accused of Sexual Misconduct by 13 Women Between 2004 and 2022.

In stinging remarks, the apex court said the entire acquisition proceedings came to be initiated at the instance of the Vedanta Foundation.

Vedanta foundation was later renamed Anil Agarwal Foundation.

"The manner in which the state government dealt with and acquired agricultural lands belonging to 6,000 families and as it in fact favoured the private limited company, which was subsequently alleged to have been converted to a public company and that too without holding any proper inquiry to the need etc., we are of the opinion that the High Court has rightly entertained the writ petitions including the Public Interest Litigation petitions," the bench said.

The top court said the initiation of land acquisition proceedings, right from selection of the land was by the company and not by the state government.

The most important aspect, which is required to be considered is the "non-application of mind" by the state government on the environmental aspects and the passing of two rivers through the acquired lands in question, the court said.

"It is not in dispute that through the lands in question two rivers namely 'Nuanai' and 'Nala' are flowing, which as such were acquired by the state government. How the maintenance of the rivers etc. can be handed over to the beneficiary company.

"If the lands in question are continued to be acquired by the beneficiary company, the control of the rivers would be with the said private company, which would violate the Doctrine of Public Trust. Even requiring the beneficiary company to maintain the flow of the above two rivers may also affect the residents of the locality at large," the bench said.

The apex court also noted that there is a wildlife sanctuary which is just adjacent across the road to the proposed university and the lands acquired.

"Therefore, the large-scale construction for the establishment of the proposed university as observed by the high court will also adversely affect the wildlife sanctuary, entire ecosystem and the ecological environment in the locality.

"It is a duty of the state to protect the wildlife sanctuary and it may affect the entire ecosystem and the ecological environment in the locality. It is also required to be noted that even the distance of the sea from the proposed Vedanta University is approximately 2,000 metres," the bench said.

Merely because the Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary is separated from the proposed site by a highway – Puri-Konark Marine Drive -- cannot be a ground to acquire the huge land for the proposed university, it said.

The high court had in 2010 quashed the land acquisition proceedings initiated by the Odisha government and directed Vedanta to return the land awarded to them to their owners.

The petitioners had pointed out that the proposed university project site, which was to come up near Puri about 60 kilometres from the state capital Bhubaneswar, was close to Balukhand Konark Black Buck Sanctuary and a river.

Sterlite Foundation, which subsequently changed its name to Vedanta in 2004, entered into an MoU with Odisha government on July 19, 2006, to set up a university near Puri.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)