Corridor case: SC contempt notice to Karnataka

New Delhi, March 25: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued showcause notices to seven senior officials of Karnataka Government, including the Chief Secretary, asking why action shouldn’t be initiated against them for not obeying its earlier directives on the implementation of the Rs 2,250 crore Bangalore-Mysore express highway project.

Acting on a petition filed by the contractor of the project — Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Limited — which has alleged that the state Government had violated an apex court order of April 20, 2006 — a Bench, comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam, issued notices to the Chief Secretary; Additional Chief Secretary, Public Works Department; Principal Secretary, Revenue Department and Secretary, Urban Development.

In 2006, the Supreme Court had imposed an exemplary cost of Rs 5 lakh on the state Government for disobeying its orders in the case.

Giving six weeks time to file their response, the court, however, exempted all the officials, including the Special Deputy Commissioner of Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board, coordinator of Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project and Member Secretary of Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Area Planning Authority, from personal appearance on the next date.

The matter will come up before the Bench again in the second week of August. Informing the court that state is presently under President’s Rule, and there was no elected Government to take a decision, state’s counsel Sanjay Hegde sought an adjournment on the issue.

However, senior advocate Ashok Desai, arguing for Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) Ltd, opposed the submission saying even the previous Government headed by Chief Minster H D Kumaraswamy deliberately delayed the execution of the project and “willfully disobeyed the court’s orders.”

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