HC stay on land acquisition for Chandrapur power project

NAGPUR, December 17: The Ispat Industries' proposed power project at Bhadravati in Chandrapur district has run into rough weather with the ...

NAGPUR, December 17: The Ispat Industries’ proposed power project at Bhadravati in Chandrapur district has run into rough weather with the High Court Bench at Nagpur staying the State Government’s land acquisition process for the project.

The bench comprising Justices A V Savant and R M S Khandeparkar, granted a stay on all the land acquisition process for the project while admitting a writ petition filed by BJP MP from Nagpur Banwarilal Purohit.

Not long ago, Purohit had ruffled the feathers of his party leadership by moving the court against the Shiv Sena-BJP government’s decision to grant mining rights to Ispat Industries for setting up four captive coal mines and the proposed 1080 MW power project.

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He had alleged that the decision smacked of a shady deal between the State and the Ispat subsidiary — Central India Coal Company (CICCO).

One of the eight fast-track projects mooted by the erstwhile P V Narasimha Rao government at the Centre, the Bhadravati power project continues to hang fire as it has not yet been given a counter guarantee by the Centre.

The project was cleared last year by the State Government and the Centre’s approval was sought for the power purchase agreement signed between the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) and another Ispat subsidiary, Central India Power Company (CIPCO).

Today’s development in the court brings to a halt the acquisition process for more than 1,232 hectares of land covering seven villages in Bhadravati tehsil, till the disposal of the case.

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Pronouncing the order on Tuesday afternoon, the court held that it was prima facie convinced about the matter requiring an apt consideration and hence the same was being admitted for final hearing. In his writ, Purohit had questioned the propriety of the State Government’s decision to allow mining activities in the vicinity of the Bhadravati Ordnance Factory. This, he had argued, would threaten the safety of the ordnance unit and was contrary to national security interests.

Apart from seeking a CBI probe into the allotment of mining rights, Purohit had urged the court to set aside the September 27, 1993, order of the Union Ministry of Coal’s Screening Committee pertaining to identification of the blocks for captive mining by Ispat. The BJP MP had further objected to the notifications issued at various intervals for acquisition of land by the Government for the Bhadravati project.

Purohit had caused acute embarrassment to the BJP leadership when he also accused the party General Secretary Pramod Mahajan of having promoted the interest of the Mittals who own the Ispat Industries, by getting the short-lived Atal Behari Vajpayee government to sanction the project post haste.

Things boiled down to such an extent that the State BJP Unit wrote to the party high command recommending disciplinary action against Purohit for embarrassing the State Government by raising the issue. In retaliation, Purohit handed over to Vajpayee his resignations from the BJP National Council membership as well as the Lok Sabha. However, Vajpayee had peppered over the controversy by prevailing upon both Purohit and Mahajan against washing dirty linen in public.