SC admits URA's plea on BMIC

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea made by Kannada writer U R Ananthamurthy challenging Karnataka High Court’s 2013 order allowing State government to pass compensation award in terms of land acquired for the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP).

A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice R M Lodha tagged the special leave petition filed by the Jnanapith award winner with the pending matter.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Ananthamurthy, contended that the State government did not challenge the November 2013 order passed by the High Court in order to perpetuate an enormous financial fraud committed allegedly by the project company for misappropriating massive tracts of lands belonging to farmers by paying a pittance and attempting to make over 30 times of profit by sale of such lands.

In the petition filed through advocate Prashant Kumar, it was contended that the State government did not bring into notice decisions taken during the meetings of the empowered committee of BMIC project held in 2008.

“The said alternative scheme discussed in those meetings to execute the BMIC project saves lands worth more than Rs 30,000 crore and seeks to implement the BMIC project with a more efficient timeline, makes provision to pay for costs for taking over the existing infrastructure on as is where is basis, and provides for building additional infrastructure in terms of mono rail worth more than Rs 1,700 crore without any additional burden on the state,” it claimed.

The said alternative scheme provided for public auction of lands which would generate more than Rs 30,000 crore to pay for not only enhanced compensation to the land losers but also would create a fund for infrastructure development enough to execute many more such expressways, it added.