CUTTACK : Fresh trouble seems to be brewing for former Odisha minister and BJD Rajya Sabha MP Kalpataru Das with the Orissa High Court on Thursday issuing notice to the Centre and state government over alleged illegal diversion of forest land at Dharmasala for setting up an educational institution.
Acting on a PIL filed by Prafulla Kumar Ray and three others of Jajpur, a division Bench comprising Chief Justice Amitava Roy and Justice AK Ratha has directed Secretaries of the State Forest and Revenue Departments, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Assistant Inspector General of Forests Government of India and Pratima Das, wife of Kalpataru Das to file responses within two weeks.
The petitioners have alleged that about 7.4 acre of forest land at Nuagaon village under Dharmasala tehsil of has been fraudulently taken over by Pratima Das to set up an ITI institution in the name of Gokarneswar Charitable Trust.
The plot in question is forest land and as per the Record of rights of 1984, there was a Forest Beat house on the place. Pratima Das by using the official position of her husband occupied the plot by tampering the land records. The petitioners alleged complicity of the Tehsildar Dharmasala, who allowed diversion of the land for non-forest purpose in gross violation of laws and directives of the SC.