SC slaps petitioner with Rs 10 lakh fine

BANGALORE: It is perhaps the highest-ever penalty imposed by the Supreme Court in recent times: on Wednesday, it slapped Rs 10-lakh fine on S Nagabhushan, a resident of Madavara near Bangalore, for challenging land acquisition proceedings of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) for the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project.
The bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and Ashok Kumar Ganguly dismissed the special leave petition (SLP) filed by Nagabhushan and imposed fine. Barring a few acres of land-transfer dispute between NICE and the state government, the SC and Karnataka HC have declared the project as legal.
The SC has set a six-week time limit for Nagabhushan to deposit the penalty with Karnataka State Legal Services Authority. If he fails to pay, the HC may initiate appropriate action to recover the amount.
Nagabhushan had petitioned that even though his 7.23-acre land at Thotadaguddadahalli was located far away from the BMIC alignment on Madavara near Tumkur Road, NICE had acquired the land for the project. He had also alleged that the lands are in excess of requirement under the framework agreement (FWA) of the project.