Supreme Court lawyer and rights activist Prashant Bhushan on Sunday said he would issue a notice to the Odisha government next week to abide by the orders of the apex court and return the land that was acquired from farmers to set up Vedanta University in Puri district.

Addressing reporters here, Bhushan said: “The Supreme Court has already upheld the Orissa High Court order and nullified the land allocation for the Vedanta University project. Now it’s the turn of the state government to return the land.

“After getting my notice if the state fails to return the 8,000 acres of land acquired from 6,000 farmers and others, I will file a contempt petition in the Supreme Court.”

Bhushan had fought the case against land acquisition by the Odisha government for Vedanta University in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court had in April this year upheld the 2010 judgment of the Orissa High Court that quashed the land acquisition proceedings initiated by the state government to acquire about 8,000 acres for the proposed university.

Bhushan said: “The farmers should get back their land immediately. The government should initiate the process to return the land to the affected farmers who had sacrificed their land for the Vedanta University project.”

Stating that at least 15 laws and norms were flouted to acquire the land, he said:
“Such a large-scale scam could not have taken place without the involvement of top echelons of the state government.

“The state police and other state agencies could not probe the corruption angle during the acquisition process. The entire land acquisition process should be probed by the
CBI or by a special investigating team to be constituted by the apex court. The investigation should begin under the Prevention of Corruption Act.”

He also lambasted the state government and the Centre for flouting norms while
allocating minerals to industrialists.

“Minerals should be conserved for future generations. Coal and fossil fuels that
were generated over millions of years should not be consumed just in 100 years. If this continues, there will be no minerals left for the future generation.”

Earlier on Saturday, Bhushan addressed a gathering of farmers at Beladala village in Puri district.

President of Vedanta Vishwavidyalaya Virodhi Sangharsha Samiti and former Puri MLA Uma Ballav Rath said: “The samiti will launch an agitation if the government fails to return the land to the farmers immediately.”