Deadlock over RV Road metro

Deadlock over RV Road metro

HC dismisses contempt plea but a division bench order stalls work on the stretch

Srikanth Hunasavadi. Bangalore



A division bench of the High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday dismissed the contempt petition filed against the Bangalore Metro Railway Corporation Limited (BMRCL) for not following the court order.
Justice N Kumar and Justice AN Venugopal Gowda dismissed the contempt petition, on the ground that the petitioner's property has not been affected by the BMRCL project, and hence the private litigation cannot fall within the scope of a public interest litigation.
"Filing one writ petition cannot stall the whole process. The Namma Metro project is a mass transport system. The Court will not interfere in this matter, as the project has been implemented keeping in mind the interest of the public. We cannot stall such a mass project for just one person's interests," the Court observed.
Zakir Unnisa and three others filed a civil contempt petition, making KS Shivaprasad, GM, Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC), the respondent.
The petitioner's counsel, V Gungal, submitted that on December 10, 2008, the High Court stayed all activities on the entire stretch of RV Road, pursuant to the notification dated April 16, 2008, but BMRCL violated the court verdict and started digging activity from KR Road to South End Circle. The counsel added that BMRCL called for a tender and allotted NCC a contract to commence digging and construction work.
Although the Court dismissed this petition, in another petition filed by the same Zakir Unnisa and others, a division bench headed by the Chief Justice had earlier stayed the single-judge order, upholding the land acquisition process initiated by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) on RV Road for the metro project. In that order, the Court had directed that status quo be maintained, until further orders.