Alleging violation of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, the State government on Wednesday retrieved land given to the Kumud Bhushan Educational Society, run by lawyer Prashant Bhushan in his mother’s name, in Kandwari near Palampur in Kangra.
The government maintained that the land, spanning six hectares, was not utilised for the stated purpose for which permission was given. Delivering the judgment, Kangra Deputy Commissioner C. Palarasu said a case had been registered against the educational society in his court.
He said the society was served with a show cause notice in 2012 over non-utilisation of the land for the last two years. There was, he said, no evidence to show any educational institution was operating on the land in question. Therefore, he said, the court decided to vest the land in the hands of the State for alleged violation of Section 118 and Sub-Section (h) of the State Land Act.
A press release, circulated on behalf of Kumud Bhushan Educational Society, later called the decision “highly unfortunate” and said the district administration had acted on the directions of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who was involved in various cases of alleged corruption and Mr. Prashant Bhushan ha moved to the Court against him. The statement maintained that that since February 2, 2010 various educational activities including hundreds of workshops had been conducted.
