Hyderabad: The row over the proposed auction of 400 acres near the University of Hyderabad landed in the Telangana High Court on Tuesday, April 1, with some students filing a PIL (Public Interest Litigation), seeking orders to cancel allotment of land to Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) by the state government.
A division bench of the High Court headed by Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul will hear on Wednesday, April 2, the PIL filed by the students as well as the petition earlier filed by Vata Foundation, an NGO working for environmental conservation.
The Vata Foundation had filed a PIL on March 20, and the same day it came up for hearing in the High Court. While seeking orders to revoke the government order issued in June last year allotting land to TGIIC, the petitioner’s counsel brought to the court’s notice that the land is home to rich biodiversity.
The court was told that the University of Hyderabad land has many species of animals, plants, mushroom rocks and buffalo and peacock lakes. The division bench had adjourned the hearing to April 7 and had issued notices to the respondents of the state government and TGIIC — to file the counter in 10 days.
The Vata Foundation sought the deemed forest status for the land and demanded that it be declared as a national park under Section 35 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
The petitioner’s counsel also submitted to the court that the University of Hyderabad campus had all the features of biodiversity hotspots and was ecologically sensitive, as recognised by the Supreme Court for conferment of deemed forest status in the Godavarman case.
The university students launched a protest recently after the TGIIC began the work to clear the land of trees and rocks for its auction for the development of IT parks. Given the ongoing work, the students approached the High Court and sought an immediate hearing of their petition.
The Council of Vata Foundation also informed the court that TGIIC has deployed bulldozers and earthmovers to remove the trees. He prayed for an early hearing of the PIL.
The High Court informed that it will hear both the petitions on Wednesday.
The dispute relating to the ownership of the land is two decades old. The University of Hyderabad has claimed ownership of the land. After a long legal battle, the High Court ruled in 2022 that there was no deed of conveyance that confirmed the transfer of land by the government to the university.
The university had argued that the 400-acre land is part of 2,324 acres allotted to it in 1975. The court held that in the absence of such a deed, the government retained ownership of the land. Last year, the Supreme Court upheld the order of the High Court.
TGIIC’s action to clear the forested land has triggered an uproar among students and green activists. The university witnessed protests for a third consecutive day on Tuesday.
The opposition parties also stepped up their protest. BJP legislators were detained by police when they were trying to march to the university.
The opposition parties have accused the government of destroying the environment. The ruling Congress party has denied this and hit back at the opposition for politicising the issue, though the court has ruled that it is the government land.
