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| Sawalakote: Tareekh Pe Tareekh | | Case adjourned till first week of March; Singhvi appears | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Feb 5
Recalling a scene from the Hindi blockbuster Damini one can still feel fresh the loud vocal of muscleman Sunny Deol –My Lord Tareekh Pe Tareekh. This is perhaps what is happening with the prestigious Sawalakote hydro-electric project which entangled in a prolonged litigation thus marring the better power generation prospects for Jammu and Kashmir.
Today once again the hearing on the 1200 Mega Watts project was adjourned. Justice JP Singh of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Jammu after hearing senior Abhishek Manu Shinghvi appearing for the petitioner project construction consortium adjourned the case and fixed first week of March for further hearing.
The petitioner contractors filed petition apprehending fresh tenders. According to the earlier order of State High Court that Contractors of 1200 MW Sawalkote Hydro Electric Power Project on River Chenab in District Doda for a cost of Euro 763 Million (Exchange Rate of Rs 53 for 1 Euro) has challenged the decision to cancel the EPC contract of the petitioners and also to float fresh Global Tender for the EPC contract and seeking quashment and restraining the respondents from acting upon.
Earlier the Court directed State of J&K not to call new global tender and also directed Chief Engineer Power Development Corporation that he will maintain status-quo as it exists that day till next date of hearing.
These directions were issued in a writ petition filed by M/S Sawalkote Prosjektutvikling as of Norway, M/S Hindustan Constructions Company Mumbai and M/S Ozaltin Construction Trade And Industry Company Inc of Ankara Turkey against floating fresh global tenders for the EPC contract.
It was further submitted in the petition that present petition is being filed as the petitioners verily believes on the basis of reports published in the newspapers on November 16, 2006 and November 17, 2006 that state of J&K acting on an alleged report of Cabinet Sub-Committee which has decided to cancel the EPC contract of the petitioners with the Power Development Corporation and also to float fresh Global Tenders for the EPC Contract. It is further submitted that the petitioners who having spend considerable amount of time and effort and also having spend considerable money on the project for more than seven years were never informed of the constitution of scope of reference of the Cabinet Sub-Committee nor were ever called upon by the state or the Cabinet Sub-Committee to address and respond to any issue or queries on the basis of which the impugned decision has been arrived at, this despite the petitioners letter dated November 11, 2006 to Chief Secretary Govt of J&K upon coming to know of the constitution of a Cabinet Sub-Committee to allegedly "review the Sawalkote Project" through media reports. By the said letter, the petitioners offered to assist the committee with all factual information related to the project development contract and consortium structure.
In the petition said that the impugned decision of State Govt is wholly arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, violative of the principals of nature justice and against public interest besides being based on uninformed and untenable reasoning as gathered by the petitioner from the media reports and suffers from the vice of application of norms/competitive guidelines that are ex-facie and admittedly neither germane nor applicable to the instant case as more particularly setout in detail.
The petitioners in the present petition are praying for such impugned action to be quashed and restraining the respondents from acting upon in any manner in furtherance of the impugned decisions against the petitioners. |
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