Bengaluru: The high court Wednesday restrained the state govt from taking over more than 430 acres of land at Jalahalli from HMT Limited till the next date of hearing.The court also passed a restraining order on felling of trees in land other than those sold to third parties.Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the interim order while hearing HMT’s petition challenging a June 15 order of the deputy conservator of forests (Bengaluru Urban) directing it to hand over 430 acres and 21 guntas of land within 30 days, holding that the company had failed to establish the lawful authority to occupy the same.HMT has claimed that the land had been gifted to it by the erstwhile govt of Mysore, before the Karnataka Forest Act came into force. The company submitted that the proceedings initiated by the forest department is an abuse of the process of law, as the issue of denotification of land is pending before the Supreme court.
