SC raps Karnataka Government on BMIC project

The coalition Government in Karnataka, which is already besieged by bribery charges against the Chief Minister, suffered another setback with the Supreme Court lambasting the JD (S)-BJP regime of trying to scuttle the Rs 22.5 billion Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project.

According to reports reaching here, the Supreme Court’s rap on Karnataka Government came during the hearing of a petition filed by the promoter of BMIC project Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) challenging the judicial inquiry into the infrastructure project.

After an angry Supreme Court took the Karnataka Government to task for posing hurdles in the implementation of the BMIC project, which envisages the construction of a world class 111-km-long highway between Bangalore and Mysore, the senior counsel for Karnataka Government M L Verma gave an undertaking that the Government will not proceed with the judicial inquiry.

The Karnataka Government had ordered a judicial probe earlier this month to probe the allocation of excess land to NICE for implementation of the BMIC project.

But, the division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice C K Thakker observed that Karnataka Government was acting with a malafide intention. “It is trying to scuttle the project despite the judgements by High Court and Supreme Court. Please tell your Government to keep politics away from some projects keep politics away from courts”, the bench told senior counsel M L Verma.

The Supreme Court also took serious exception to the “reckless and irresponsible” statement made by JD (S) MLA Rajanna in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The Division bench wondered whether there were no saner elements in the Assembly, who could prevail on the ruling party legislator to exercise restraint.

Though the Karnataka Government tried to pacify the Bench by saying that the legislator’s controversial remarks had been expunged, the Bench observed that the legislator had cast wild aspersions on the judiciary. “The proceedings were telecast live. By the time, they were expunged, the damage had been done”, the Bench noted.

Earlier, counsel for NICE pleaded before the Supreme Court that it was a case of complete breakdown of constitutional machinery in Karnataka.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, putting up a brave front, told reporters that the Supreme Court’s observations did not amount to a “setback” to the State Government. “We are only deferring the judicial probe into the BMIC till the Supreme Court disposes off the case”, he said.

The judicial probe into BMIC was to be headed by former Delhi High Court Chief Justice B C Patel.