SC directs freeze at Vedanta Univ project site

The Supreme Court will hear the twin appeals against the Orissa high court’s rejection of land acquisition for the proposed Vedanta university project, but no activity will be allowed at the site till the judgment.

The “nature, status and possession” of the 6,000 acres sought to be acquired is to be frozen till then, directed a bench of judges D K Jain and H L Dattu. They agreed to an “expeditious hearing”.

The appeals are from the Anil Agarwal Foundation (set up by the London-based Vedanta group of companies, Agarwal being the chairman) and the government of Orissa. Last November, the Orissa HC had quashed the notification for acquisition of land for the proposed university, in the Konark-Puri region. The acquisition had been challenged in various public interest suits, and the HC upheld these, saying the acquisition breached the law. It directed the land be returned to the original owners.

Vadanta and the state government have since appealed to the SC and this is the third bench to hear the matter. The first two benches allotted to hear the matter had both recused, earlier this month.

The bench, headed by Justice Jain, said there were several major issues to be sorted. There were several parties who’d objected to the project and asserted the rights of the peasant-owners. There are four appeals and 17 intervenors. The counsel for one of the parties, T R Andhyarujina, today said the project was a “fraud” on the local people. Prashant Bhushan, another counsel opposed to the project, said: “A corporate group which has not even set up a primary school in the area is claiming to set up a world class university (and wants) to acquire 15,000 acres of land.”.

The HC had stated the Anil Agarwal Foundation was not a public company, in terms of the Companies Act. Therefore, the take over was not permissible according to the provisions of the acquisition law.

Another issue is whether it is a public purpose when a private company is the beneficiary. The government argues that the foundation was a public company since 2006.

Apart from the challenge on the ground of illegal land acquisition, the petitioners have also raised environmental issues and contended the proposed site for the university is close to the Balukhand Konark Black Buck Sanctuary and a river.