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Karnataka Industrial Areas. vs Sri C. Kenchappa & Ors

País/Territorio
India
Tipo de la corte
Nacional - corte superior
Fecha
May 12, 2006
Fuente
UNEP, InforMEA
Nombre del tribunal
Supreme Court of India
Juez
Pal, R.
Bhandari., D.
Idioma
Inglés
Materia
Medio ambiente gen., Tierra y suelos
Palabra clave
Tenencia de tierras Manejo de tierras Desarrollo sostenible Propiedad de extranjeros
Resumen
The respondents are agriculturists, who possessed grazing lands for cattle, were affected by the acquisition of lands by KIADB. These lands were part of the green belt in the comprehensive development plan and also included lands reserved for the residential purposes. They filed a petition under Article 226 for restraining appellant from converting land of for any industrial or other purpose as they wanted to retain their land for grazing of cattle. The Karnataka High Court quashed the acquisition proceedings under Section 3 (1) of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board Act, 1966 to extent of land which were reserved for grazing cattle, agricultural and residential purpose. It held that for maintaining ecological equilibrium and pollution free atmosphere of the villages, KIADB had to leave land of 1 km. as a buffer zone from the outer periphery of the village in order to maintain a green area towards preservation of land for grazing of cattle, agricultural operation and for development of social forestry. This measure would preserve the ecology without hindering the much needed industrial growth, thus striking a balance between the industrial development and ecological preservation. The Court had also directed that whenever there was an acquisition of land for industrial, commercial or non-agricultural purposes, except for the residential purposes, the authorities must leave 1 km. area from the village limits as a free zone or green area to maintain ecological equilibrium. The present appeal is directed against this judgment. According to the appellant, the effect of the impugned judgment will be that, in future, the appellant would not be able to acquire lands for the establishment and development of the industrial area in the State of Karnataka. It also submitted that the High Court has exceeded its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution by issuing blanket directions which tantamount to judicial legislation, and has failed to appreciate that the lands in question have lost their agrarian character a few decades ago and the villages have become part and parcel of the city of Bangalore and that the entire developmental work has been completed. The apex is of the considered view that before acquisition of the land; the appellant must carry out necessary exercise regarding the impact of development on ecology and environment and that it should be made mandatory for the allottee to obtain necessary clearance for the project from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the Department of Ecology and Environment before execution of the agreement. Consequently, the appellant is directed to incorporate this condition in the letter of allotment requiring the allottee to obtain clearance before putting up any industry. The said directory condition of allotment of lands be converted into a mandatory condition for all the projects to be sanctioned in future. The Supreme Court, in addition to dealing at length with the principles of sustainable development, polluter pays, precautionary principle, public trust doctrine, also emphasized on the requirement of carrying on an impact assessment and obtaining necessary clearance from the State Pollution Control Board and the Department of Ecology and Environment before execution of an industrial activity. The importance and awareness of environment and ecology is becoming so vital and important that the Court asked the appellant to insist on the conditions emanating from the principle of `sustainable development' and directed that, in future, before acquisition of lands for development, the consequence and adverse impact of development on environment must be properly comprehended and the lands be acquired for development that they do not gravely impair the ecology and environment.
Texto completo
COU-156136.pdf
Página web
www.indiankanoon.org