Kerala High Court: Who’s afraid of E. Sreedharan

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Kerala High Court on Tuesday wondered whether Delhi Metro Rail Corporation adviser E Sreedharan is the only competent person to execute the Kochi Metro rail project.

The court also asked the State Government whether Kochi Metro project could not be executed by an agency other than DMRC.

The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice A M Shaffique, made these observations here on Wednesday while dismissing a petition, seeking a directive to entrust the Kochi Metro contract to DMRC.

The petition was filed by Bharatiya Janata Karshaka Morcha (BJP) district secretary Balachandran.
Advocate General K P Dandapani told the court that Sreedharan was the adviser to DMRC and its former managing director. The State Government was keen on entrusting the project to DMRC, but was hassled.

Dandapani argued that the petitioner had raised serious allegations against chief minister Oommen Chandy without submitting documents to prove them.

The petitioner was trying to mislead the court by presenting distorted and misdirected statements, he said. C Rajendran, counsel for the petitioner, alleged that Chandy and companions were playing a fraud on the public.

The court then permitted the petitioner to withdraw the petition and file a fresh one, curing the mistakes.