HC upholds HMT land sale
KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday upheld the sale of 70 acres by HMT to Mumbai-based Blue Star Realtors, a subsidiary of Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd, to set up a cyber city at Kalamassery in Kochi.
Blue Star Realtors purchased the land through a public tender, paying Rs 91 crore, in October 2006.
Four public interest litigations challenging the sale of the land were filed before the High Court contending that the land had been allotted by the state government for commercial purposes and HMT was not entitled to sell it.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice S R Bannurmath and Justice Kurian Joseph held that the sale of the land by HMT was legal while making it clear that the land should be used only for industrial purposes. The court said, "HMT was given exemption under Section 81(1)(a) of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, considering the industrial growth of the state and people's welfare... Those who purchase the land should also follow the conditions under which the exemption was given.'' The state government had in 1991 handed over 781.50 acres of land to HMT, exempting the land from the provisions of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, with the condition that the land should be used for industrial purposes within four years.
Since this was not done, the government decided in 1995 to recover 400 acres of land. HMT authorities filed a petition in the HC against the decision and while the petition was pending before the court, submitted that they were willing to hand over 300 acres if the government allowed them 100 acres to use as they wished. The government agreed, and the 100 acres was exempted permanently from the provisions of the Kerala Land Reforms Act. The state government in an affidavit filed before the HC submitted that the sale of 70 acres to Blue Star Realtors was legal and did not need government sanction.