The Hindu : New Delhi News : BMIC: Supreme Court notice to Karnataka

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Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008
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BMIC: Supreme Court notice to Karnataka

J. Venkatesan

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Chief Secretary and five senior officials of the Karnataka government on a contempt petition filed by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) alleging non-implementation of the court’s directions on the Rs. 2,250-crore Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) Project.

A Bench, comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat, Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Aftab Alam, while issuing notice returnable in six weeks, dispensed with the personal appearance of the respondents.

The Bench also admitted two writ petitions filed by NICE relating to the appointment of the Justice Patel Commission of Inquiry to go into various aspects of the project and the notification inviting fresh global tenders for the execution of the project. The Bench, after hearing senior counsel Dushyant Dave, appearing for NICE, and the State Advocate General, B.V. Acharya, directed the matter to be listed for final disposal in the second week of August.

Mr. Dave submitted that NICE had so far invested Rs. 1,200 crore in the project but attempts were being made to scuttle it.

He said the court should issue notice in the contempt petition.

Expressing his anguish, Justice Pasayat said, “If after three rounds of litigation you [Karnataka] are not willing to implement [the project], we know how to deal with it.”

By a judgment of April 20, 2006 the Supreme Court had directed the Karnataka government to proceed with the project.

In the final hearing in August, the Supreme Court will hear the two writ petitions, the contempt petition and connected applications.

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