Forest Department officials have returned the cleared portion of a private resort and the sealed structures at Murukannu Gudda forest area in Sakleshpur, citing a Karnataka High Court order that has stayed the eviction process.
D. Mohan Kumar, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Hassan division, visited the place on Saturday and handled the procedure of the return to owners of the Stone Valley resort. The DCF told The Hindu that he was following the High Court’s interim order.
“The High Court, in its order on July 27, stayed the eviction process. Again, the petitioner moved court, alleging that the order had not been implemented. The court issued a modified order on August 10. Hence, we are following the order,” he said.
The officer maintained that the department would challenge the stay order and continue to argue in defence of the eviction proceedings. “The court has issued only an interim stay. This is not the final verdict. We have the opportunity to present our claim,” he said.
R. Ravishankar, Chief Conservator of Forests (Hassan Circle), also maintained that his officers were implementing the court order. “After we cleared the resort from the forest area, he moved the court. We have to obey the order now. However, the legal fight will continue,” he added.
Officials had sealed the structures that had come up in the forest areas on July 18. The owners of the resort had allegedly encroached on nine acres and 36 guntas in survey number 92 of Achchanahalli and three acres in survey number 148 and another two acres in survey number 148/2. They had built cottages, kitchen, swimming pool, a play area, and a house on the encroached land.
Following a complaint by previous Sakleshpur RFO Raghavendra Agase, then DCF of Forest Vigilance Squad N. Ravindra Kumar conducted the hearing and issued an eviction order on July 26, 2022.
