The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday directed the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) to appoint Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru, to verity whether all the terms and conditions imposed by the Central government while sanctioning the metro project Phase 1 and Phase 2 were adhered to by the State government and the BMRCL.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Suraj Govindaraj issued the directions during the hearing of a PIL petition filed in 2019 by D.T. Devare and the Bangalore Environment Trust.
The petitioners had contended that conditions like Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) and Integrated Traffic Ratio Rationalisation Plan (ITRRP) were not implemented by the State government and the BMRCL.
The bench, during the earlier hearing, had expressed dissatisfaction on the report filed by an officer of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on compliance of the conditions, and had indicated to the authorities that it would direct IIM or IIT to examine whether conditions were adhered to or not.
There is a need to take views of experts to consider the claims made by the petitioners and the authorities as the conditions involve technical aspects, the bench said.
The bench also said that the IIMB will have to verity all the relevant documents, inspect the works carried in relation to conditions imposed by the Central government, and hear State and Central governments, BMRCL and the petitioners before submitting its detailed report to the court.
Also, the bench directed BMRCL to submit by April 8 a draft terms of reference to be given to the IIMB before entrusting the task of verification.
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