(Corrigendum: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the Chhattisgarh High Court has issued a stay order in the land acquisition process in the Parsa coal block. However, the High Court has only ordered the Centre to file a reply in the matter, adding that no coercive action should be taken against the five petitioners till then. The article has been updated to rectify the error. The error is deeply regretted.)
The Chhattisgarh High Court on Tuesday, 14 December, while hearing a petition filed by the residents of Hasdeo Aranya challenging the land acquisitions for the Parsa coal block, ordered the Centre to file a reply till 10 January 2022 in the matter, adding that no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioners till then.
The high court bench, headed by Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami and Justice NK Chandravanshi, was hearing a petition filed by Mangal Sai, Thakur Ram, and three others challenging the process of land acquisition for Parsa coal block, carried out by invoking the Coal Bearing Act 1957 (CBA).
Approximately 1,250 hectares of land is to be acquired for the proposed Parsa coal block, of which one-third of the land is inhabited by the tribals and the rest falls under the forests of Hasdeo Aranya, one of central India’s largest tracts of unfragmented forests.
The Hasdeo Aranya region hosts rich biodiversity and is a major habitat and migratory corridor for elephants and tigers.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)