Bhubaneswar, Sep 11 (Bureau) Eminent Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan said he would file a contempt of court case against the Odisha government if it did not return land it Acquired in Puri district for the Vedanta University project violating all norms to farmers within seven days. Bhushan told newspersons here on Sunday that the Supreme Court had in April this year had quashed acquisition of 10,000 acres of farmland illegally acquired by the state government for the proposed vedant university and directed the state government to return the land to farmers. He said though five months had already passed since the Supreme Court order, the state government has not taken any intuitive so far to return the land to farmers.
Bhushan warned that if the government did not return the land to farmers within seven days a legal notice would be served to the government and he would file contempt of court case against the government. He said the Supreme Court has declared the acquisition of 10,000 acres of farm land on Puri-Konark beach for the proposed Vedant University illegal and condemned the odisha government for its undue favour to the company. It directed the Vedant to pay a fine of Rs five lakh. The Supreme Court lawyer also demanded that either a SIT be constituted under the direct supervision of the court to probe into the conspiracy to hand over 10,000 acres of land including two rivers to Vedant for setting up of a university or the case be handed over to CBI. He also denounced the manner in which the state and the central governments have been allocating mines to different corporate firms in Odisha.
Bhushan expressed his concern over the way the allocation of mines is being made by both the state and the central government. He alleged that mines were being allocated by flouting norms, and said if the practice continues, the entire mineral resources will be exhausted within next 20 years and nothing will be left for the future generations. Bhushan said the mineral rich state is being looted by mining companies due to undue favour shown by the Odisha government to corporate houses. Earlier the Supreme Court had directed the companies to pay Rs 20,000 crore to compensate the loss suffered by the state due to illegal mining and mining scam. But so far, the companies have deposited only Rs 17,000 crore so far. ‘’We have moved the Supreme Court for the collection of rest Rs 3,000 crore and the Supreme Court has issued notice for it, he said.