High Court restrains Himachal govt from transferring Palampur varsity land for tourism village

The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Tuesday restrained the state authorities from transferring 112 hectares of land from Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Agriculture University, Palampur, to the tourism department for setting up a tourism village.

While passing the interim order, a division bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Ranjan Sharma asked the Chief Secretary; Secretaries, Tourism and Agriculture; Kangra Deputy Commissioner; and the university registrar to file their replies by October 17.

The court passed the order on a PIL filed by the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Teachers’ Association saying the transfer of the university land to the tourism department would adversely affect the interests of agricultural education.

It was said that the petitioner association and locals had submitted representations to the governor and chief minister in this regard on August 29.

It was said that seven former vice chancellors of the university had also requested the state not to transfer the land as it would seriously impact the teaching, research and extension programmes of the university.

It was alleged that the university registrar under pressure from the state government had issued an NOC for transferring the land.

The petitioner association had urged the court to quash the NOC and restrain the state authorities from transferring the land.

The court listed the matter for October 17.