Bengaluru:  Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar B Khandre said on Monday that a show cause notice had been issued to officials in connection with the case involving the Kannada film ‘Toxic’, starring Yash.

Action would be taken after reviewing their replies, he said.

The minister stated that the officials had (falsely) claimed, in an Interlocutory Application (IA) filed in the Supreme Court in 2020, that the forest land in Hindustan Machine Tools’ (HMT) possession had lost its forest status.

He added that they sought denotification approval without obtaining Cabinet permission.

“It has already been suggested to withdraw this IA. In the last Cabinet meeting, ex-post facto approval was given to withdraw the IA,” said the minister.

The film crew of ‘Toxic’ was pulled up on October 29, 2024, for felling trees in a reserve forest in Bengaluru’s Peenya Plantation 1 and Plantation 2 to set up a film set.

Khandre informed reporters at the Vidhana Soudha on Monday that the film crew had been given a lease by Canara Bank, which had purchased the land from HMT.

According to Khandre, HMT, which was shut down due to losses, sold 160 acres of land to various organisations, including private entities, for Rs 313 crore. However, in the certificate submitted to the Supreme Court at the time, the land’s value was stated to be Rs 14,300 crore.

“In any case, this is a much-needed breathing space for Bengaluru city. One cannot put a price on it,” added the minister.

He said the land would be reclaimed, and a park similar to Cubbon Park or Lalbagh would be developed there.

“This is the property of seven crore Kannadigas. All Kannadigas should support the government in protecting it,” Khandre added.