New Delhi/ Bhubaneswar: The Supreme Court has rejected the review plea of Anil Agarwal Foundation, challenging its April 2023 decision to invalidate the land acquisition in Puri for the proposed Vedanta University.
“Applications for listing the Review Petitions in open Court are rejected. We have perused the Review Petitions and record of the Civil Appeals and are convinced that the order of which review has been sought, does not suffer from any error apparent warranting its reconsideration. Accordingly, the Review Petitions are dismissed,” TNIE reported, quoting the apex court’s bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal.
The apex court had earlier cited “non-application of mind” and “undue favours” in the land acquisition proceedings while upholding the 2010 Orissa High Court judgment, which had quashed the process and directed the company to return the land to its owners.
This has come as major setback for Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal, who at the recent Utkarsh Odisha investment conclave sounded optimistic about realising its university plan in Odisha under the current double-engine administration. He also confirmed that his company is searching for appropriate land, preferably in Puri, to invest between Rs 6,000 crore and Rs 20,000 crore on building a world-class institute.
THE SHELVED PROJECT
On July 19, 2006, the Anil Agarwal Foundation signed a MoU with the then BJD government to set up a university of international standards, to be modelled on the lines of Stanford and Harvard, on the Puri-Konark marine drive, spanning over 15,000 acres, at an investment of Rs 15,000 crore.
The administration acquired over 6,000 acres across 22 villages for the proposed project between December 13, 2006, and August 21, 2007. Later, 3,342.53 of 4,178.84 acres of the acquired privately-owned land were transferred to the company and 509 acres of government land were given on lease.
The project, however, was mired in controversy over the large patch of land demanded by the promoters. The group initially suggested that the world-class university would be set up by Sterlite Foundation, which it later changed to Vedanta Foundation and finally to Anil Agarwal Foundation.
Soon, several displaced landowners moved the Orissa high court, which in November 2010 quashed all the land acquisition procedures for the proposed Vedanta University, terming the state government’s notifications for the same as ‘illegal’ and ‘bad in the eye of law’.
The SC upheld this decision on April 12, 2023, and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the Anil Agarwal Foundation for pursuing litigation for over a decade. The court found that the Odisha government had proposed giving undue benefits to Vedanta, including complete autonomy over administration, admission, fee structure, curriculum, and faculty selection, as well as exemption from state levies, taxes, and duties. “It is not in dispute that from the lands in question two rivers namely ‘Nuanai’ and ‘Nala’ are flowing, which as such were acquired by the State Government. The control of the rivers would be with the said private company, which would violate the Doctrine of Public Trust,” the SC had further stated.
In November 2024, the BJP govt in the state announced plans to return approximately 3,500 acres of private land to the original owners upon refund of compensation received. Similarly, the government will also take back possession of around 500 acre govt land, which was given to the Anil Agarwal-led group.
