Guwahati, Sept. 17 -- The University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM), one of the region's most prominent private universities, has found itself at the centre of a major land controversy after a Supreme Court-appointed panel accused it of large-scale forest land encroachment.

In a report submitted to the Registrar of the Supreme Court on September 15, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) stated that USTM, promoted by the Education Research & Development Foundation (ERDF), illegally occupied 13.62 hectares of deemed forest land in one phase and 12.13 hectares in another, without obtaining mandatory clearances under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

The CEC noted that USTM failed to seek diversion approval despite repeated ...