Land acquisition for Vedanta University quashed
November 16th, 2010 - 3:09 pm ICT by IANSBhubaneswar, Nov 16 (IANS) The Orissa High Court Tuesday quashed the process of land acquisition for Vedanta University in Puri and directed the government to return the acquired land to its owners, a lawyer said.
The division bench of Chief Justice V. Gopal Gouda and Justice B.P. Das delivered their verdict in response to eight petitions, said Subir Palit, one of the lawyers for the petitioners.
“The court declared that the land acquisition notification for Vedanta University project is illegal and void. The court quashed the notification,” Palit told IANS.
He said the government had been directed to return the land to its owners.
The Anil Agarwal Foundation, promoted by NRI industrialist and chairman of Britain’s Vedanta Resources Anil Agarwal, was setting up the multi-disciplinary Vedanta University near the Konark-Puri marine drive.
The university was to come up in over 6,000 acres with a phased investment of Rs.150 billion ($3.5 billion). But the project faces considerable opposition from local residents.
Some people who lost their land had sought the intervention of the court describing land acquisition for the project as illegal.
“We have been opposing land acquisition since the beginning because it was illegal. Now the court has came to the rescue of people. The judgment is historical,” Umaballav Ratha, one of the petitioners, told IANS.
No one from the Anil Agarwal Foundation or the state government was available for comment.
The union environment ministry had earlier refused clearance to Vedanta’s mining project in Orissa’s Niyamgiri hills.
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- Vedanta University: Apex court orders status quo (Lead) - Jan 28, 2011
- Orissa rally to celebrate dumping of university plan - Nov 30, 2010
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- BJP activists burn effigies of Patnaik over Vedanta issue - Nov 17, 2010
- Orissa assembly adjourned over Vedanta varsity issue - Nov 23, 2010
- Patnaik defends Vedanta varsity decision - Nov 25, 2010
- Protests in Orissa over varsity land issue - Nov 18, 2010
- Orissa moves apex court on proposed Vedanta university - Dec 15, 2010
- Supreme Court orders status quo for Vedanta University project - Jan 28, 2011
- Vedanta University project gets environmental clearance - Apr 17, 2010
- Vedanta University: Apex court orders status quo - Jan 28, 2011
- Environment ministry puts on hold Vedanta varsity in Orissa - May 11, 2010
- Orissa legislator jumps on speaker's table - Dec 14, 2010
Tags: acquisition notification, anil agarwal foundation, chief justice, division bench, gopal, gouda, industrialist, judgment, konark, land acquisition, mining project, orissa high court, palit, petitioners, petitions, puri, ratha, state government, vedanta resources, vedanta university