After Ram Rahim, is Baba Ramdev next on judiciary's list?
The Allahabad HC has stayed work on a Patanjali Food Park and suspended approval for land use change to Baba Ramdev for a plot in Noida's Gautam Budh Nagar. The former UP government under Akhilesh Yadav had allotted the 4,500-acre plot to Ramdev. Former Chief Secretary Deepak Singhal had helped seal the deal, reportedly in lieu of sales and marketing rights of Patanjali products.
A petition by one Asaf had challenged the allotment to Ramdev. He alleged development of a food park would mean felling of 6,000 trees. He also claimed 200 bighas of the allotted land was already leased to him by the government for 30 years.
The HC asked under which law the plot was allotted to Ramdev. It sought a reply from the Industrial Development Commissioner. It also asked under whose orders trees were allowed to be cut, and demanded a list of officers and policemen present at the time of felling. Significantly, Tehsildar Abhay Kumar said neither the allotted land was ever acquired nor compensation paid to farmers.
