Uttarakhand HC dismisses plea against 'Sainik Dham' project

The Uttarakhand High Court has dismissed a plea seeking to halt the construction of the proposed Sainik Dham in Dehraduns Guniyal village. It also noted that the forest department had no objection to the allocation of the land for the Sainik Dham.

The Uttarakhand High Court has dismissed a plea seeking to halt the construction of the proposed ''Sainik Dham'' in Dehradun's Guniyal village. The court has made it clear that the land on which the war memorial is being built is not forest land and therefore, there is no basis to stop the construction. Petitioner Vikas Singh Negi had filed the public interest litigation (PIL) matter, stating that the state government is proceeding with the construction of the ''Sainik Dham'', without determining the true nature of the land. The plea had also claimed that the site fell under a forest area. On this basis, it had sought wide-ranging reliefs, including an immediate stay on the construction, the handing over of the land to the forest department, an inquiry by a special investigation team (SIT) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged illegal change of land use, removal of encroachments and action against erring officials. On behalf of the state government, a reference was made to a joint land-survey report prepared by the revenue and forest departments. The report clearly stated that the land was not part of any forest area. It also noted that the forest department had no objection to the allocation of the land for the ''Sainik Dham''. A bench of Justices Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Subhash Upadhyay observed that once competent forest authorities have certified the land as non-forest, the petition is legally baseless. The court also noted that the construction is underway since 2021 and is almost complete, with the inauguration likely soon. Declining to interfere, the court dismissed the petition.

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