New Delhi

BMIC case: Karnataka denies NICE charge of violation of order

New Delhi: The Karnataka Government on Wednesday asserted in the Supreme Court that it had not violated the order in the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project and denied that Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) was not being allowed to execute it.

In its reply to the contempt notice issued in the petition filed by NICE, the State said the petition was filed to pressure the State to condone all the lapses on the part of NICE such as change in the alignment, non-obtaining of environmental clearance and permission from the Pollution Control Board.

A Bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat, Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Aftab Alam posted the matter for further hearing on November 4. It asked NICE to file rejoinder, if any, by October 22.

Karnataka rejected the allegations that it had committed a contempt of court by creating hurdles in the implementation of the project. It said that the petitioner was trying to seek implementation of the project contrary to the judgment. It was the promoter which had deviated from the original alignment of the land fixed by the Karnataka Government as per the High Court judgment dated September 21, 1998. It said the promoter was trying to seek more land to complete the project.

It said: “They (NICE) are trying to change the alignment of the road and seek more land than what is specifically set out in the said judgement. The present contempt application is one such attempt to pressure the officials to submit to its illegal demands.” Karnataka submitted that it had called upon the promoter to come forward to take up the 20,193 acres of land as originally conceived.

“However, the petitioner refused to do so and insisted upon larger extent of land being given to it. This is one of the circumstances that prevented the project from proceeding further, for which the petitioner has to blame itself,” the affidavit said.

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