The Karnataka High Court on Friday directed the State government not to commence construction of a proposed stadium at Gunjur village near Varthur on the outskirts of the city.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S. Kinagi passed the interim order on a PIL petition filed by T. Narasimhamurthy.
The petitioner had contended that the 27-acre plot, allotted to the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) for construction of the stadium, is not revenue land but ‘deemed to be forest’ even though revenue records do not categorise it as forest land.
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Citing a letter written by the Deputy Conservator of Forests (Bangalore Urban division) to the Deputy Commissioner, Bangalore Urban district in January this year, the petitioner has contended that the land is part of a list of lands to be declared as ‘deemed to be forest’, submitted before the apex court as identified by the Forest Department.
The government has allotted the land for construction of a stadium due to political influence based on a technical reason as records treat the plot as revenue land, the petitioner has claimed while pointing out that the Forest Department had raised objection when the work of digging a borewell was undertaken by the DYES in January.