The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday ordered issue of notice to the State government on a PIL petition questioning the legality of allotting 116.16 acres of land, which is part of the lands acquired for industrial purposes near Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, to a private university at a concessional price.
A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty passed the order on the petition filed by Sudha Katwa, a city-based advocate.
The petitioner has questioned allotment the land made to the Chankya University at a price of ₹50 crore in June, 2021.
It has been alleged in the petition that allotment was done without following procedure as the Government swiftly acted on the application filed directly to the then chief minister by Centre for Educational and Social Studies (CESS), which is the sponsorer of the university in March 2021.
The petitioner had also claimed that allotting the land at ₹50 crore has resulted in a minimum loss of ₹137 crore as the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board has fixed ₹1.61 crore per acre as rate for the undeveloped industrial lands for the bulk allotment of lands.
Meanwhile, the petitioner has also contended that the lands, acquired for the hi-tech, aerospace and defence park, could not have been allotted to a private university, which was not even existed when the allotment was done in June 2021. The university came into existence only in October 2021 following the enactment of the Chanakya University Act, 2021 by the State government, the petitioner has pointed out.
