Court stops HP govt from transferring agri varsity land

Shimla: Taking up a public interest litigation moved by the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Teachers’ Association, the high court on Tuesday ordered the state govt not to transfer 112 hectares of Palampur-based Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Agriculture University for the proposed tourism village project.
A division bench, comprising Justices Vivek Singh Thakur and Ranjan Sharma, put the chief secretary, and secretaries of the agriculture as well as tourism departments besides the Kangra deputy commissioner and the varsity’s registrar on notice for filing their replies by Oct 17.
The petitioner had submitted that transfer of this varsity land to the tourism department would have an adverse impact on agriculture education, research and extension services. Earlier, on August 29, the petitioner association and local people had submitted a representation to the state governor and the chief minister for reconsideration of the decision in the larger public interest. TNN