Mysuru:  The Third Additional Civil Court (Junior Grade) has yesterday dismissed a petition filed by a private educational institution regarding the issue of Hinkal Nanneshwara Temple Kalyani and the land surrounding it. The Court, while dismissing the petition, said that the case did not come under its jurisdiction.

The land in question has been allotted to some private educational institutions despite opposition by Hinkal villagers. The educational institutions had fenced the land that belonged to the village as claimed by the villagers, and had denied permission for villagers to celebrate Ugadi festival at the Kalyani.

This had enraged the villagers who had staged a series of protests and overnight dharnas in March this year near the Kalyani demanding the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and the District Administration to take back the land that has been allotted to educational institutions.

In March second week, the Court had directed private institutions to stop all construction activities in the land adjoining Nanneshwara Swamy Temple until further orders. Advocate H.P. Mahadeva Swamy had moved the Court seeking a stay to the construction of a wall by institutions at the site and also to withdraw the Police security provided for construction activities.

Appearing for the villagers, Advocate Mahadeva Swamy told the Court that the dispute was not between two individuals but it was the question of the entire Hinkal village. Providing a historical perspective, the advocate said that land allotment was ‘faulty’ and done after ‘ignoring’ the interests of the villagers.

“The educational institutions have robbed off the rights of the villagers to conduct festivals at the historical Nanneshwara Temple. Due to the efforts of the villagers, a Kalyani that was buried under the ground by land sharks, was restored and there is one more Kalyani under the ground. Most of the land has been encroached in the surroundings and this is the only stretch of the land that is available for the villagers,” the advocate told the Court.

He also told the Court that since the land comes under the city limits, the Court has no jurisdiction over the case and the petition of the private education institution has no merit and must be dismissed.

Hearing the advocate, the Court asked the petitioners to approach a relevant Court as the case does not come under its jurisdiction.

On their part, the villagers said that though the educational institutions claim that they were running classes at a few buildings at the disputed site, in reality, there are no academic activities here and the Court has been misled,” he alleged.

Villagers said that the land that has been allotted to the educational institutions comes under ‘B Kharab’ (Government land) classification. In 2011-2012, the land (CA site 28, 29, 37 and 38) was sanctioned to the educational institutions by the then Karnataka Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda when BJP leader G. Madhusudan was a MUDA Member, they said.