Kerala - Kochi   

Hearing on HMT case adjourned

Kochi: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday adjourned to March 18 the hearing on a writ petition seeking a CBI probe into the HMT land deal.

The case was adjourned by the Bench comprising Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice K.M. Joseph after hearing arguments of Sivan Madathil, counsel for the petitioner. The petition was filed by the Thrissur-based State Human Rights Protection Centre. The counsel contended that the sale of 70 acres in the possession of the HMT at Kalamassery to a Mumbai-based realtor was illegal.

He said the land was acquired and handed over to the HMT for a public purpose. If it was not utilised for that purpose, the government could take it back. In fact, the Supreme Court and High Court had ruled that the land acquired for a public purpose should not be utilised for any other purpose. Even if it was assumed that the company had the right to sell the land, it could be done only through public auction. The HMT had not conducted any public auction. It had only inserted an advertisement on the sale of its land in two Mumbai-based newspapers. It did not say anything about the “upset price” for the land. He also contended that if the HMT could not utilise the land, it had to give it back to the government and the government could utilise it for public purposes.

Justice R. Basant dismissed a petition filed by Swami Gokul Das who runs the Thapodhyan Ashram in Thirssur seeking anticipatory bail in a criminal case.

He was arraigned as the 10th accused in the case and charged with planning to commit dacoity under section 399 of the Indian Penal Code.

The court asked him to surrender before the magistrate court concerned or the investigation officer and seek bail. The case was that the police had arrested some persons who were travelling in a van with deadly weapons. The persons arrested had criminal antecedents and told the police that they arrived at the instance of the petitioner. The petitioner had some “disagreements” with the residents in the area.

The court also dismissed an anticipatory bail filed by Vettil Suresh who is an accused in the case relating to the murder of Vijayakumar, a DYFI worker at Kadavanthara in Ernakulam.

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