Supreme Court to hear Vedanta University's appeal

New Delhi, Jan 21 (ANI): The Supreme Court will hear Vedanta University's appeal against the Orissa High Court order quashing land acquisition for its university project in Puri.

The Orissa government and the University have challenged the High Court decision saying land acquisition procedures for the proposed Vedanta University project were illegal.

The petition against the university said the proposed university project would cause extreme debilitating impact on the eco system and the local bio-diversity.

The High Court had directed Vedanta to return the land awarded to them to their owners.

At least two PILs and six individual petitions were filed in the High Court since 2007 challenging the state government's notification on the land acquisition.

The petitioners had contended that the proposed multi-disciplinary university project would have caused extreme debilitating impact on the eco system as well as the local bio-diversity.

Congress leader Umaballav Rath had filed the first plea in the High Court challenging the project, which was envisaged on 500 acres of temple land

The petitioners had also questioned the status of the company saying that it was not properly formed as per the Companies Act.

The High Court had cited 17 issues and held that land acquisition procedure for Vedanta were illegal. (ANI)