HC adjourns Posco hearing

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court, on Monday, adjourned the hearing on the writ petitions filed by villagers of Dhinkia and Nuagaon panchayats challenging the land acquisition process for Posco steel project to July 4. Hearing the two PILS filed by Nisakar Khatua of Gobindpur village and five others, Chief Justice V Gopalagowda and Justice BN Mohapatra posted the cases to the next date. Earlier the vacation court bench of Justices I Mohanty and SK Mishra had directed the petitioners to submit detailed ownership of the land belonging to them along with the Record of Rights. It had also asked both the Centre and the State to file their counter affidavits. The petitioners had submitted that they had not agreed to the diversion of forest land for the integrated steel plant under the Forest Rights Act. They alleged that the Government had resorted to gross violation of human rights by going ahead with forcible land acquisition.  The petitioners had also prayed for rejection of the letters of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests relating to forest clearance.