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NEWS
ANALYSIS
Bangalore-Mysore
corridor:
A verdict
against
messing
The High Court verdict
on the Bangalore-Mysore corridor project will reassure investors, and sound a
warning to meddlesome politicians and bureaucrats
What
is India News Service
4 May 2005
The
Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor project has taken several turns, and
has now prompted the Karnataka high court to deliver a judgment that has some as
a shock to the Karnataka government. The court has taken exception to the way
senior officials have conducted themselves in the case that stalled the project,
and ordered action against them. Bangalore and Mysore are southern Karnataka’s
most important cities.
Bangalore is already on the world map of science and technology, while Mysore is
a famed heritage city which is also becoming an attractive destination for
business investors. The corridor connecting the two cities ought to have been
ready by now but for endless political bickering and legal confusion.
The High Court on Tuesday ordered
prosecution of Chief Secretary K K Misra and Under Secretary, Commerce &
Industries, M Shivalingaswamy, for their affidavits in the Bangalore-Mysore
infrastructure corridor (BMIC) case.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice N K Sodhi and Justice B Padmaraj in
their 95-page order said that the two officials withheld “important facts and
documents from the court,'' and made “false statements in their affidavits''.
The Court directed the Registrar (Judicial) to file complaint against the two
officials in the competent court as envisaged in Section 340 of the Criminal
Procedure Code.
The Court, while allowing the BMIC project as sought by the respondents, the
Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Limited (NICE), imposed a cost of Rs
50,000 on J C Madhuswamy, MLA and the petitioner in the PIL, and ordered him to
pay it within four weeks to the Legal Services Authority.
The Court allowed the BMIC project as “conceived originally'' and upheld by
the Court earlier. It also quashed the Government notifications dated November
4, 2004 and December 17, 2004 by which committees to review the BMIC projects
came into existence. “The report submitted by these committees in pursuance of
those orders and the consequent actions taken incidental thereto are also
quashed. Nandi is also directed to implement the project as expeditiously as
possible,'' the bench said.
The Cabinet, in an emergency meeting, decided to move the Supreme Court against
the High Court order and stand by the Chief Secretary and the Under Secretary.
The Government will extend full legal support to him and Misra can hire an
advocate of his choice at the government's expense. Revenue Minister M P Prakash
termed the Court order “unfortunate'', and said the Chief Secretary filed the
affidavit after it was duly cleared by the Cabinet and as per its directions.
NICE MD Ashok Kheny, hailing the order, demanded that PWD Minister H D Revanna
resign from his post. He said he would file defamation suits against all
politicians and bureaucrats who had maligned him in connection with the project.
While former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, who is camping in Delhi, declined to
comment on the court order, his son, Revanna hit back at Kheny saying he was not
an employee of NICE to resign on Kheny's demand. “I represent the five crore
people of Karnataka and will give a fitting reply to NICE at an appropriate
time,'' he said.
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In its judgment on the Rs 2,250
crore four-lane Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project, the
court has directed the Registrar General of the court to file
a complaint to prosecute Mishra and Shivalinga Swamy under Section 344 of
the CrPC after holding them guilty of “perjury”.
In tandem, the court also quashed the government order
constituting the experts committee and review committee to review the project
and probe whether irregularities had taken place in allotment of land for the
project being executed by the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE).
Deve Gowda, former prime minister and leader of the Janata Dal (S) which shares
power
with the Congress at the state level, recently held a rally
of the urban poor, and said their interests had been sacrificed by the erstwhile
Krishna (also Congress) government. He has been charging that excess land has
been acquired for the Bangalore-Mysore infrastructure project. The coalition has
been an embarrassment for the Congress, but it has been putting on a brave
front.
Hours
after the court gave its verdict, the state cabinet held an emergency session
and decided to stand by the chief secretary ‘wholeheartedly’ and file an
appeal against the judgment in the apex court on its direction concerning the
two officials and other issues in which the government explanation on the
project was not accepted by the court.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mr Naudip
Kumar Sodhi and Justice Mr B Padmaraj was of the view that the change of stand
by the government was not because of fraud or misrepresentation but because “a
new Public Works Department minister sent a note on 6 July, 2004, to his
principal secretary, pointing out the allegations made by former Prime Minister
Mr HD Devegowda that excess land had been acquired”.
The BJP sees the court verdict as a triumph for its position. In August 2004, it
had led a procession against
the policies of the Congress-led coalition government. BJP leader Ananth Kumar
had said the government had failed on all fronts and had no right to continue in
power, and had pointed fingers at the way the Dharam Singh government had
handled the BMIC project.
There are many lessons in the present judgment: it was wrong for officials to
hide facts from the court, it is wrong to invite investment and then make the
investors’ life hell, and it is wrong to make political capital out of issues
on which there ought to be consensus. Projects such as this one involve long
years of negotiations and longer years of execution, so they call for concert
action on the part of governments, officials, investors and the people.
The first step, of course, is to ensure that the land acquisition is done in a
fair and transparent manner so that people who lose their lands to such projects
don’t also end up losing their livelihood. This judgment will hopefully tell
our leaders that their venal actions will not escape the attention of the
courts.
CET,
BMIC on protesting BJP agenda, Deccan Herald
On
Mysore expressway, HC says chief secretary guilty of perjury, New
Indian Express
Karnataka
asked to prosecute CS, The Statesman
Court
slams Karnataka: hit the expressway, Indian
Express
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