Farmers move Karnataka High Court against acquisition of land for Bidadi township

Farmers in Karnataka have filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court, challenging the acquisition of their agricultural lands for the Bidadi Integrated Township Project. The 14 small farmers argue that the project lacks a genuine public purpose and is being implemented on an experimental basis, decades after its conception. They claim that the State government has subverted the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 by downgrading rural areas to urban categories, thereby circumventing the mandatory Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and landowner consent requirements.

Justice R. Nataraj adjourned the hearing until August 25, recording the State's assurance that it would not dispossess the farmers of their lands until the award is passed. The petitioners argue that the project's lack of a clear, finalised scheme and its implementation under different legal frameworks point to an illusory vision designed to benefit the government's commercial interests at the expense of the farmers' land.