Puri, Sept 9 (PTI) Prominent Supreme Court lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan on Saturday said he would be prompted to file a contempt of court case against the Odisha government if it did not return land to farmers following the Supreme Court verdict nullifying land allocation for Vedanta University project in Odisha's Puri district.

Bhushan said this while addressing a farmers' gathering at Beladala village in Puri district held to celebrate the victory of Vedanta University Sangharsh Samiti in the Supreme Court.

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The apex court had in April this year upheld the 2010 judgment of Orissa High Court which quashed the land acquisition proceedings initiated by the Odisha government to acquire about 6000 acres for the proposed university.

Bhushan said the state government should start returning land to the affected farmers who had sacrificed their plots for the purpose.

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Since the purpose of the land is not met, the farmers should get back their plots, he said.

He also denounced the manner in which the state and the central governments have been allocating mines to different corporates in Odisha.

Alleging that mines were being allocated by flouting norms, he said if the practice continues, there will be little mineral left for the future generations.

Bhushan cited the instances of Niyamgiri, Kashipur and Bolangir where local tribals need to be evicted to facilitate corporate mining operations.

Activist Medha Patkar said natural flora and fauna serve as the lifeline for people and the locals are fighting to preserve their rights over the natural resources.|

OPCC president Sarat Pattnayak and senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik criticised the BJD and BJP governments for allocating 8,000 acres of agricultural land belonging to 6,000 families to set up a varsity by Vedanta group.

Umaballav Rath, who organised the farmers rally, said the farmers must get back their land immediately.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)