Cuttack, July 9: A fresh petition challenging the land acquisition for Vedanta’s proposed Rs 15,000-crore international university in Puri has been filed in Orissa High Court.

Bhitaracha Madhusudam Mohapatra has filed the petition seeking judicial intervention against a notice issued to him by the state government under Section 9 of the Land Acquisition Act pertaining to his land measuring 17.74 acres.

The government had allotted the land to Vedanta Resources Corporation under its land acquiring process in Chaitana Mauza under Puri Sadar Tehsil.

London-based Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources Corporation wants to acquire 8000 acres for its proposed university.

The AAF had already announced an endowment of $1 billion for the university.

The state government is committed to provide 8,000 acres on the Puri-Konark marine drive, 60km from Bhubaneswar, as part of an MoU it had signed with the Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF) in July 2006.

So far, the government has acquired less than 1000 acres.

The petitioner has questioned the rationale behind the requirement of 8000 acres as put forth by the company. Alleging it to be “far in excess of the purpose sought to be served”, the petition cites that the quantum of land on which leading universities in India had come up.

“This leads to the conclusion that the real purpose sought has been masked. The foundation appears to have a hidden agenda, which has not been disclosed,” alleges the petition.