State pays costs of Rs. 5 lakh to NICE

State pays costs of Rs. 5 lakh to NICE
The Hindu

Supreme Court awarded exemplary costs for `frivolous' plea

# Amount paid under protest
# Government reserves right to file review/curative petitions

Bangalore: The State Government has paid Rs. 5 lakh in exemplary costs awarded by the Supreme Court to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) Ltd. the entity that is implementing the Rs. 2,200-crore Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project.

On April 20, the Supreme Court had ordered the implementation and completion of the project "expeditiously" as originally envisaged.The Supreme Court had also imposed exemplary costs of Rs. 5 lakh on the State Government, terming its petition "frivolous," and directed it to pay the punitive cost within four weeks.

Cheque received

The project developer received the cheque dated May 26. While making the payment as directed by the Supreme Court, the Government, however, said that it reserved the right to file review/curative petitions on the order. "In obedience of the orders of Supreme Court judgment dated April 20, we are enclosing herewith a cheque for Rs. 5 lakh towards the cost awarded by the court...

Paid under protest

"The said amount is being paid under protest and without prejudice to our right to file review/curative petitions," said the note sent with the cheque by the project coordinator in charge of the BMIC project in the Public Works Department.