The Karnataka High Court on Friday stayed the process of finalising the tender, and if the tender is finalised, no work shall be undertaken on the elevated corridor project till June 3
A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice L. Narayana Swamy and Justice P.S. Dinesh Kumar passed the interim order on an application filed by the Namma Bengaluru Foundation and Citizens Action Forum, which have complained that the State is going ahead with the project sans approval of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Planning Committee (BMPC).
The application was filed by the petitioners in 2014 questioning the process of finalising the Revised Master Plan-2035 for the city without the approval of the BMPC.
"We direct that there shall be no finalisation of the tender if it is not already finalised, and even if the tender is already finalised, no work shall be undertaken till next date of hearing on June 3,” the bench said in its Friday's order.
Earlier, it was pointed out to the court by the petitioner's counsel that the government is going ahead with various development projects, including the elevated corridor project, when the court had in October 2017 directed the government not to give final approval to the Revised Master Plan-2035 without prior approval of the court, and in March 2019 had directed the State ‘not to precipitate the matter’ with regard to BMPC.
Pointing out that parallel bodies like Bangalore Development Authority and the Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authorities were implementing various plans without approval of the BMPC, which was established on the basis of a constitutional mandate, or by suppressing the role of the BMPC.
Undertaking various development projects without involving the BMPC would adversely affect planned development of the Bengaluru metropolitan area, the petitioners claimed.
However, the government counsel said that the tender was floated prior to the court's order directing the government ‘not to precipitate the matter’.
