SC sets February 1st Week for interim hearing on Vedanta University

Bhubaneswar, Nov 20: The Supreme Court fixed has fixed first week of February month for interim hearing on Vedanta University project in Puri considering an interim appeal filed by Anil Agarwal Foundation.

Hearing the interim appeal, the three-member bench of Supreme Court upheld the directives of Orissa HC pronounced in 2011, which termed the land acquisition process for the proposed university as invalid.

The decision of Orissa High Court was challenged by Odisha government and the University. In this case, fist petition was filed by Congress leader Umaballav Rath challenging the project and land allotment for the propose university. In his petition he mentioned that proposed university project would cause extreme debilitating impact on the ecosystem in Puri.

Anil Agarwal Foundation of Vedanta Resources was also asked by the Union Environment Ministry to put on hold its Rs.15,000 crore Vedanta University project in Puri. The Vedanta University was supposed to spread over 6,892 acres on Puri-Konark marine drive land and Vedanta Resources had acquired 4,500 acres of land.

The Odisha Government had even passed the Vedanta University Bill in 2009 to facilitate the project, but it failed to get the Presidential assent.