{"id":9233,"date":"2026-07-30T08:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T08:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/?p=9233"},"modified":"2026-07-30T08:58:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T08:58:04","slug":"hotels-have-replaced-udaipurs-hills-citys-identity-at-risk-observes-rajasthan-hc-seeks-accountability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/hotels-have-replaced-udaipurs-hills-citys-identity-at-risk-observes-rajasthan-hc-seeks-accountability\/","title":{"rendered":"“Hotels Have Replaced Udaipur’s Hills, City’s Identity at Risk”: observes Rajasthan HC, Seeks Accountability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jaipur: <\/strong>The Rajasthan High Court has made strong observations over large-scale construction on Udaipur’s hills, lakes and environmentally sensitive areas, saying that the city’s ecological identity is under serious threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While hearing a petition filed by Basant Hotels Pvt. Ltd., Justice Sameer Jain remarked that Udaipur’s hills have been “mercilessly cut” and replaced by hotels and resorts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court said the issue is much larger than a dispute involving a single hotel and concerns the environmental future of the entire city. It also indicated that it may initiate a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to examine the larger issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case arose from a petition filed by Basant Hotels Pvt. Ltd. against the State Government, the Urban Development Department, the Udaipur Development Authority (UDA), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and other authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the hearing, the High Court considered an interim inspection report submitted by Court Commissioners, Advocate Kamini Joshi and retired IAS officer Rajendra Bhanawat, who inspected the site using drone surveys and aerial photography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report found that several hotels are already operating on Udaipur’s hills and that the petitioner’s property appears different only because it is located on a steeper slope. It also revealed that hills and mountains have been extensively cut to construct hotels, leaving the natural landscape severely damaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report further stated that the 2018 Hill Policy was prepared by a private agency without consulting statutory departments responsible for forests, wildlife, climate change or pollution control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also noted that officials of the Udaipur Development Authority themselves appeared to have inadequate knowledge of the Hill Policy and the legal provisions governing construction in hilly areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petitioner argued that its construction was carried out in accordance with the earlier policy and the principles of sustainable development. It claimed that several other hotels had been built in the surrounding area, but only its project was being targeted, accusing the State Government of adopting a “pick and choose” approach and hostile discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Central Government informed the Court that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and pollution control authorities were not consulted while the Hill Policy was being drafted. The State Government and UDA sought time to study the inspection report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expressing concern over the situation, the High Court observed that Udaipur, known for its lakes, hills and wildlife sanctuaries, has reached a “very pitiable condition.” It said that under the guise of sustainable development, arbitrary policies have allowed hundreds of hotels, resorts and commercial buildings to come up in environmentally sensitive areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court also questioned the expertise of those who prepared the Hill Policy, stating that they lacked the necessary expertise for such an important task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referring to Articles 21, 14 and 19 of the Constitution, the Court observed that while the freedom to carry on business is protected, it remains subject to reasonable restrictions under the Public Trust Doctrine, which requires the State to protect natural resources for the benefit of the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court also recalled that in a 2019 PIL concerning lake conservation, the State Government had assured it that an appropriate policy would be framed in line with the Public Trust Doctrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Court noted that instead of consulting expert environmental authorities, the government relied on a private agency to prepare the Hill Policy without adequate research or expert input.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering the seriousness of the matter, the High Court said that at the next hearing it will consider not only the present dispute but also whether a suo motu PIL should be registered to address the broader environmental concerns affecting Udaipur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court directed all concerned officials to appear personally at the next hearing and ordered the production of all original records relating to the hotel’s construction approvals. It also directed the State Government to provide details of all construction and commercial permissions granted around the petitioner’s property, including the names and designations of the officers who approved them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, the Court sought the names of the authors or agencies that prepared the 2018 and 2024 Hill Policies, along with the original documents, reports and reasons behind those policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court Commissioners have also been directed to remain present at the next hearing, and their interim report has been taken on record and supplied to all parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has made strong observations over large-scale construction on Udaipur’s hills, lakes and environmentally sensitive areas, saying that the city’s ecological identity is under serious threat. While hearing a petition filed by Basant Hotels Pvt. Ltd., Justice Sameer Jain remarked that Udaipur’s hills have been “mercilessly cut” and replaced by hotels … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wppp_is_locked":false,"_wppp_selected_plans":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,69],"tags":[119,113,274,1278,1772,1771,272,48,1769,43,150,228,1298,940,1774,1770,1773,1775,1646],"class_list":["post-9233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories","category-rajasthan-high-court","tag-ecology","tag-environmental-law","tag-environmental-protection","tag-forest-conservation","tag-hill-policy","tag-hotel-construction","tag-justice-sameer-jain","tag-legal-news","tag-public-trust-doctrine","tag-rajasthan-high-court","tag-rajasthan-legal-news","tag-rajasthan-news","tag-suo-motu-pil","tag-sustainable-development","tag-uda","tag-udaipur-development-authority","tag-udaipur-hills","tag-udaipur-lakes","tag-urban-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9233"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9235,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9233\/revisions\/9235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}