Karnataka HC Stays Construction Of World’s Tallest Jesus Statue Amid Allegations Of Illegal Land Allotment

The Karnataka High Court has stayed the construction work of the tallest statue of Jesus Christ in the world at Kanakapura in the Ramanagara district of the state, New Indian Express has reported.

Anthony Swamy along with seven other petitioners alleged that the illegal allotment of land for the project is an attempt to adhere to the selfish demands of sibling politicians, D K Shivakumar and D K Suresh.

The court has stalled the Harobelle Kapalabetta Abhivruddhi Trust from conducting any construction work without its permission.

The Kanakapura taluka has a population of 2,000 Christians, and 1,500 of them are concentrated in the two villages of Nallahalli and Narobele. It is alleged that in February 2017, the D K brothers sought 15 acres of land in Survey No. 283 of Nallahalli village of Kanakapura taluka by sending a note to the Deputy Commissioner of Ramanagara.

The Christian community had not demanded this action back then. However, the concerned Trust submitted an application for the grant of 10 acres of land for this initiative at the command of these two politicians in March 2017.

“Without issuing a public notice for grant of land as per Section 17-A of the Karnataka Land Grant Rules, the Tahsildar submitted the report to the Deputy Commissioner that villagers have no objection for grant of gomal land. He also stated that there were no religious monuments on the said land, which is contrary to the claim made by D K Shivakumar that centuries-old Christian monuments were situated on Kapalabetta. The construction commenced after hurriedly obtaining permission from the local gram panchayat,” the petitioners stated.

The Supreme Court has reiterated multiple times that private people cannot utilize the public property. With the support of D K Shivakumar, the Trust had received the land at a concession of Rs 49.5 lakh.

The solicitors have requested the High Court to overthrow this order, which also supposedly violates the Forest Act and Environment (Protection) Act. It is said that the Congress politicians attempted to create a vote-bank by coercing this move to appease the Christian community.