Bengaluru, Aug. 26 -- The Karnataka High Court has issued a strict direction to the state government that not a single brick shall be moved and not a single tree shall be cut in the Bidadi Township project area without the permission of the court.

The direction was issued by a single-judge bench of Justice R Nataraj while hearing a writ petition filed by four farmers challenging the land acquisition process for the Bidadi Smart City project.

The bench strongly reprimanded the government, observing, "How can you bring a bulldozer immediately after fixing the compensation amount? The government should not indulge in overnight destruction of property."

The court made it clear that even after the compensation amount is announced, no coerci...