Court Frustrated with Lack of Progress in Inquiry, Gives Commission Final Chance

The court is expressing strong dissatisfaction with the lack of progress in an inquiry into government contracts.

Nikshep Infra Projects and 32 other contractors have filed a writ petition in High Court for quashing of Formation of SIT by Karnataka Government. The SIT was formed to investigate the alleged irregularities in Civil Contract Works done in BBMP from the year 2019-20 to 2022-23.

Case Background

Karnataka State Government constituted a Special Investigation Cell for investigating into the contracts that were handed over to the respective contractors for all the works of various departments including the BBMP for the years 2019-20 to 2022-23. One man commission with the former Hon’ble Judge Justice Sri.H.N.Nagamohan Das was constituted on 25 August 2023 to inquire into the alleged irregularities.

Proceedings in High Court

The court had previously granted the Commission 45 days to consider documents submitted by all stakeholders and hold a hearing. However, the petitioners argued that no progress had been made by the Commission despite the allotted time.

The court acknowledges the concerns and directs the Commission to:

Complete the inquiry within 6 weeks: The Commission is granted an additional six weeks to finalize the inquiry and submit its findings to the court.
Continue payments to stakeholders: The Advocate General assures the court that payments to stakeholders are ongoing based on seniority and commitments, independent of the inquiry.
Conclude inquiry by next hearing: If the inquiry is not completed and the report submitted by the next hearing date, the court may release payments to the petitioners without waiting for the inquiry to be finalized.

The court is concerned about the lack of progress made by the Commission.
The Commission is granted additional time to complete the inquiry.
Payments to stakeholders will continue regardless of the inquiry’s status.
The court may release payments to the petitioners if the inquiry is not completed by the next hearing.
The case will be heard again on April 2nd, 2024.