BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court dismissed a public interest litigation filed over the alleged allotment of land for Isha Yoga Centre, and construction activities at the foot of Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapura district, without adjudicating the issue. It said the petitioners have suppressed material facts.
“The petitioners have not come to the court with clean hands and they have suppressed the credentials, criminal antecedents and filing of PIL. The act of the petitioners is contrary to the affidavit filed by them. We have not adjudicated the issue... We have dismissed this writ petition only on the ground of suppression of material facts,” said a division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Ashok S Kinagi, dismissing the petition filed by S Kyathappa and others.
Dismissing the petition on February 9, 2023, the court had said they would follow the order with reasons. Accordingly, the order was uploaded on the court website.
The petitioners alleged that the state government, district authorities and people’s representatives, in utter violation and disregard of environmental laws, permitted Isha Yoga Centre to deface and dislodge the green core, command area in the foothills of Nandi and Narasimha Devaru hill range.
Isha Yoga Centre filed a statement of objections, praying that the petition be rejected on the ground that the petitioners had not approached court with clean hands and suppressed material facts. The court said the petitioners did not disclose the credentials as per clause (b) of Rule 11 of PIL rules, or satisfied accuracy of the contents of the petition. Thus, the petitioners have failed to comply with Rule 11 of the PIL Rules, the court noted.