2 days after Karnataka HC’s status quo order, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar cancels visit to unveil Adiyogi statue

In fact, Dhankhar was also scheduled to inaugurate the New Management Development Center (MDC) building of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore on January 15.

An email message from the Vice President Secretariat stated that, the programme/visit of the Vice President of India to Karnataka (Bengaluru, Chikkaballapur, Hubli-Dharwad) from January 14 to January 16 stands cancelled due to “unavoidable reasons”.

The status quo was ordered following a public interest litigation (PIL) against the construction alleging that it violated rules and laws related to forests and land acquisition. On Friday, the Isha Yoga Centre approached the division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Ashok S Kingai and submitted that the inauguration of the centre scheduled for January 15 would be attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and others. The invitation for the inauguration was also submitted to the court.

The yoga centre has installed a 112-foot statue of Adiyogi at Avalagurki in the district. The court was told that no trees would be axed for the event and there would be no construction activities.

Counsel for the petitioners sought a direction from the court that no fireworks should be used during the unveiling of the statue. Responding to it, the court opined that such events would not be held as it was a programme to be attended by the Vice President. The hearing of the case was adjourned to February 2.