Mysore Lamps employees’ union knocks on the doors of Karnataka high court

The allotment of land by the state government for the proposed Judges’ Colony could face one more hurdle as the Mysore Lamps SC/ST Employees’ Union has challenged the move to inspect the land belonging to now-defunct industry in Malleswaram for locating the residential quarters.

Land for the colony has been at the centre of a raging controversy ever since the state government allotted land at the HSR Layout in 2008. This move met with strong opposition from the residents who challenged the same in the high court. The government recently sanctioned 21 acres of land for the construction of judges’ quarters at the Hebbal campus of Karnataka Veterinary Animal and Fisheries Sciences University against which the Karnataka Veterinary Association has filed a public interest litigation in the Karnataka high court. The PIL is yet to come up for hearing.

Now, the Mysore Lamps SC/ST Employees’ Union has filed an interlocutory application in the high court. A state government undertaking, Mysore Lamps was wound up due to heavy losses.

The petitioner has contended that according to newspaper reports, the state government was getting ready for inspecting the industry’s land for the construction of the judges’ quarters.

The union contended that Mysore Lamps was on the verge of closure and it had filed a petition in  2002 against the same. Since the case was still pending in the high court, how could the state government consider the land for locating the housing colony, it asked.

Meanwhile, in the HSR Layout case, the state government on Wednesday sought more time to submit a proper affidavit regarding the details on the construction of the lower court buildings throughout the state.