Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre has accused HMT Limited, a central public sector enterprise, of illegally occupying, leasing out, and selling forest land to private parties and government entities. 

Khandre said that 599 acres of land in Peenya Plantation 1 and 2 was illegally donated to HMT in the 1960s without denotifying the land. In a letter to the Additional Principal Secretary for the Forest Department, Khandre cited the Supreme Court’s view that forest land was forest land until denotified. 

He also accused the company of enabling non-forestry activities in forest land in its possession, pointing out that the company had rented out forest land to the makers of Toxic, a film starring actor Yash. He alleged that satellite images showed many trees in the forest had been cut and a huge set had been built on the land where shooting has been going on for months.

“The illegal cutting of hundreds of trees in forest land under the possession of HMT for the filming of the movie Toxic has raised serious concerns. Unauthorised felling of trees in forest land is a punishable offence. Has permission been obtained for this according to the rules? If yes, disciplinary action should be taken against the officer who gave permission and a case should be registered against those involved,” the minister said in the letter.

He added that the film team has built a small village set in the said land. “I am not complaining about the film team. We have to see who had violated the rules. The chopping of trees is illegal and it cannot be permitted,” he stated.

The makers of Toxic, KVN Productions, have said that the set was on private property and had not violated any forest rules. 

“I will write a letter seeking action to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). There is a provision to lodge a case under the provision of the Forest Act. We have got all the details,” Khandre said. Section 24 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 states that certain rights cannot be alienated without the sanction of the State Government, which means that grant, sale, lease, or mortgage needs sanction from the state government

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Heavy Industries Kumaraswamy, under whose jurisdiction HMT falls, dismissed the minister’s claims and reportedly stated that HMT was the rightful owner of the land.

The row is the latest in the series of allegations and counter allegations between Khandre and Kumarasamy, who have clashed several times since August over HMT’s alleged violations of forest laws. While Khandre has been accusing HMT of illegally occupying and selling forest land, Kumaraswamy has alleged that Khandre of trying to loot HMT’s land to hand it over to vested interests.