In a significant ruling, the Himachal Pradesh High Court today issued an interim order preventing the transfer of 112 hectares of land belonging to Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Agriculture University in Palampur to the Tourism Department. The land was slated for the development of a tourism village, a project spearheaded by the Sukhu government.
The decision came from a Division Bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Ranjan Sharma, which has asked key state officials including the Chief Secretary, and Secretaries of the Tourism and Agriculture Departments, along with the Kangra District Collector and the university’s Registrar, to submit their responses by October 17.
The court’s order responded to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) initiated by the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Teachers’ Association. The Association argued that the proposed transfer would jeopardize agricultural education and research, thus adversely affecting farmers’ interests.
The controversy began when various stakeholders, including locals and seven former Vice-Chancellors of the university, expressed strong opposition to the project. They voiced concerns over the detrimental impact it could have on academic activities and research at the institution. Their grievances were formally presented to the Governor and Chief Minister on August 29, urging reconsideration of the decision to allocate university land for tourism purposes.
