Is Karnataka in a state of coma, asks apex court

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the lackadaisical attitude of the Karnataka government in implementing the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project which is mired in a political controversy, saying the government seemed to have gone into a ‘coma’ on the issue.

“Why don't you process the project at least in section B and C. What is your problem in these sections? The state seems to be in a state of coma," a bench comprising Justices V.S. Sirpurkar, R.M. Lodha and T.S. Thakur told Karnataka's advocate general Ashok Harnahalli.

After heated arguments on the contempt petition moved by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE), which was awarded the contract for execution of the BMIC project, the bench agreed to hear it in the third week of July after the company's counsel Dushyant Dave was able to convince the top court why the question of “contempt of court" has arisen in the matter.

Mr Dave read extensively from the 2006 verdict of the Supreme Court upholding the Karnataka HC order giving the green signal to NICE to go ahead with the project. He said that despite the HC and apex court clearance, repeated ‘hurdles’ were being created in the project by raking up the same issues by filing of a series of applications on the matter in the HC, virtually creating obstacles in the execution of the project.

The bench put probing questions to the AG about the survey and acquisition of land in section B and C and asked why the government had problems in issuing the notification.

The top court was specifically concerned about the non-execution of the highway project. “We are putting a simple question to you on whether the road has been built. We have not still understood why you are not implementing the project even about the express highway of six-lane or eight-lane is approved,” Justice Sirpurkar, heading the bench, asked the AG.

To a specific query on the acquisition of land in section B and C, Harnahalli submitted that the survey in respect of the former was over and only the notification has to be issued, while there was problem in section C as farmers were agitating, which had created a law and order situation for the government.
However, such an argument infuriated the court which asked the AG not to bring up the issue of law and order. “If the government can't enforce the rule of law than it should leave and not rule.”

“Why are you not acquiring the land even for the road...forget about other things. The main formulation of the project is the road. Completion of the road is the priority,” the apex court observed.

After about an hour-long argument, the bench deferred hearing on the contempt plea of NICE for the third week of July hoping that by that time, the HC would also come out with its verdict disposing all 82 petitions before it raising various issues. “We hope the government may also spell its stance clearly,” the judges added.