‘Won’t sell or lease’: HMT secures a stay on 430-acre Bengaluru forest land eviction order

During the hearing, HMT’s counsel clarified that the undertaking applies strictly to unsold land still in its possession, noting that 178 acres had previously been transferred or sold to various government agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate and private entities.

“Even though that is brought on record, the officer goes on to pass an order that covers 440 acres. If tomorrow, third parties take charge of the land on the basis of the transactions already completed, we should not be put in difficulty,” the counsel for HMT argued.

Addressing this, the High Court observed, “There is no dispute about the land being forest land; the only issue is that the revenue department took it and gave it to you.”

The state government argued that 290 acres of the property remain vacant green cover with dense tree growth, expressing its intent to preserve the area as a vital “lung space” for Bengaluru.

Political tug of war over property

The move to recover the land has triggered a sharp political spat between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre and the Congress administration in Karnataka.

Former forest minister Eshwar Khandre of the Congress has accused HMT of illegally converting and selling forest land to private real estate developers, adding that the state plans to build a 440-acre biological park on the site.

“It is HMT and not the forest department that has encroached on forest land that had not been converted (into industrial land). Is it possible to conduct real estate business on forest land declared under Section 64A of the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963?” Khandre asked earlier this month.

“Even now, 280 acres of the land in HMT’s possession is forest plantation. Film and serial shooting takes place in the dilapidated buildings next door. HMT is illegally using forest land for commercial purposes. It has sold 165 acres of land for just Rs 300 crore,” Khandre alleged.

“The forest land in the possession of HMT is the property of seven crore Kannadigas. This is an essential breathing space for the people of Bangalore,” he added.

Earlier, Union Heavy Industries Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy had alleged that the state’s recovery order was a deliberate attempt to sabotage efforts to revive the struggling public sector undertaking.

The former Karnataka chief minister alleged that previous Congress administrations allowed real estate mafias to grab parts of the HMT estate and argued that issuing an eviction deadline while the matter remains before the court amounts to improper interference with judicial proceedings.

“I stopped the sale of this land because I was determined that it should never fall into the hands of land grabbers or real estate mafia. Under the government of those who promised to turn Bengaluru into Singapore, HMT land was torn apart and devoured like vultures, without the slightest restraint,” Kumaraswamy said earlier this month.

Earlier developments around forest land

The controversy stems from nearly 599 acres in Peenya-Jalahalli originally declared a forest in 1896, which was later transferred to HMT in the 1960s via a district collector deed to support industrial development.

The state government recently withdrew an interlocutory application filed in the Supreme Court in 2020, when the BJP was in power, that had sought to denotify 443 acres of the forest land as revenue land. The state also suspended a senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer for filing that application without Cabinet or ministerial approval, reinforcing its current stance to reclaim and preserve the property as protected forest.