Relief to Ramdev in tree-felling case

Lucknow, October 23

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday gave a major relief to Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Limited by dismissing the petition charging it of felling 3,000 trees in a land reportedly allotted to it in Gautama Buddha Nagar for establishing a food park. 

A Division Bench asked the GB Nagar District Magistrate to probe the allegation and fix a compensation amount in the petition. According to the petition filed before the HC by Ausaf and eight others from GB Nagar in 1995, the state government had allotted them some land in GB Nagar on lease for 30 years to plant trees.

The petitioners had complained that the land had been taken back in an irregular manner by Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) and allotted to Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd.

But as YEIDA claims that the land had not been allotted to Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, it was not clear as to who had cut the trees. Hence, the petition has been dismissed. — TNS