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‘Sly note’: Rs. 30,000-cr. land for NICE

Krishnaprasad

Then PWD Secretary manipulated BMIC project records: affidavit

Bangalore: The State Government on Friday disclosed to the Karnataka High Court that manipulation by way of a “note”, reportedly by the then Public Works Department (PWD) Secretary, had resulted in unreasonable concessions to the company implementing the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project. However, no date has been mentioned in the note.

The present PWD Secretary, T. Sukumar, in an affidavit before the court, stated that the then PWD Secretary seems to have introduced a note in the government files stating that the amount of land, which would revert to the Government, was only 11,966 acres, instead of 14,255.7 acres. However, the name of the then PWD Secretary has not been mentioned in the affidavit.

The affidavit, filed in connection with a contempt of court case, stated that the note enabled Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Ltd. (NICE), which is implementing the project, to get ownership of an additional 2,289.7 acres of land.

The present market value of the 2,289.7 acres is about Rs. 30,000 crore, according to the affidavit. Mr. Sukumar stated, “Manipulation in the records by means of introduction of the note has resulted in unreasonable concessions being made available to NICE and at the cost of the Government…. This note had vitiated all further actions taken by the Government and its functionaries, and they relied upon this note for their further actions.”

“Had the note not been there and had these functionaries been notified or informed about the contents of the Framework Agreement and land acquisition agreement signed in October 1998, the government functionaries would not have permitted the subsequent agreements which resulted in unreasonable concessions to the company,” Mr. Sukumar stated.

The affidavit was submitted before a Division Bench comprising Justice V.G. Sabhahit and Justice L. Narayana Swamy, which is hearing the contempt case. Stating that the Government had not deviated from court orders, the affidavit claimed that there were several other instances and events that, prima facie, raised suspicions of connivance between government officials and NICE to favour the company.

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