MUDA case: High Court adjourns hearing on CM Siddaramaiah’s appeal to second week of November
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has adjourned to the second week of November the hearing on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s appeal challenging the single-judge bench order upholding the Governor’s sanction for an investigation against him in the MUDA case.
A division bench comprising Justice Anu Shivaraman and Justice K. Rajesh Rai took up on Thursday both Siddaramaiah’s appeal and a separate appeal filed by J. Devaraju, the original owner of the disputed land. Devaraju has objected that despite having no connection to the case, he has been dragged into it and is now forced to face both civil and criminal proceedings due to strong observations made by the single judge.
Appearing for the state government, Advocate General K. Shashikiran Shetty submitted that the appeals need to be heard in detail. The bench observed that on the date of hearing, it would avoid listing other matters and suggested an early schedule in the first week of November. However, senior counsel Prof. Ravivarma Kumar requested that the hearing be fixed for the second week of November, which the bench accepted.
The case relates to alleged irregularities in land allotments by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). On September 24, 2024, a single-judge bench of the High Court had upheld the Governor’s order granting sanction to investigate Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in connection with the allegations. Challenging this decision, Siddaramaiah approached the division bench with an appeal.
Meanwhile, J. Devaraju, the original landowner, has also filed a separate appeal, contending that the single-judge bench’s harsh remarks have unfairly implicated him in both civil and criminal cases despite his limited role.
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Illegal sand mining has created environmental crisis in National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday said rampant illegal riverbed sand mining has created an "environmental crisis" and wreaked "havoc" in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, causing a grave risk to the gharial (long-snouted crocodile) preservation project.
Slamming the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for their utter failure in dealing with the issue, the apex court directed them to install high-resolution Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras along all routes frequently used for illegal sand mining in the area.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed that live feed of such surveillance cameras shall be placed under the direct control, supervision and operational oversight of the superintendent of police or the senior superintendent of police of the concerned district and the divisional forest officer.
It said these officers shall ensure continuous and effective monitoring of the CCTV feeds by designating appropriate officers.
"It can't be gainsaid that the issues involved are of great concern in as much as the rampant illegal mining activities in the river bed have created an environmental crisis and havoc in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary causing a grave risk to the very project of gharial preservation of which the state governments themselves were proponents and were under an obligation to foster and promote," Justice Mehta said while pronouncing the order.
The bench directed the authorities in these three states to initiate prompt and necessary action under law if any instance of illegal mining or allied activities comes to light.
It said the authorities shall ensure seizure of vehicles or machinery found involved in illegal sand mining and also initiate prosecution of persons involved in it.
The bench, which passed several other directions, posted the matter for hearing on May 11.
The top court passed the order in a suo motu case titled 'In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife'.
The National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400-sq km tri-state protected area.
Besides the endangered gharial, it is home to the red-crowned roof turtle and the endangered Ganges river Dolphin.
Located on the Chambal river near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the sanctuary was first declared a protected area in Madhya Pradesh in 1978 and now constitutes a long and narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states.
On March 13, the top court took suo motu cognisance of news reports about rampant illegal sand mining on the banks of the Chambal river.
