E-Paper
HC grants 6 wks for reply to PIL on Science City
HEARING A public interest litigation (PIL) petition challenging transfer of the proposed ?Science City? from Allahabad to Bhopal, the Allahabad High Court has granted six weeks? time to the Government of India as well as State Government to file reply (counter-affidavit) in the case.
HEARING A public interest litigation (PIL) petition challenging transfer of the proposed ‘Science City’ from Allahabad to Bhopal, the Allahabad High Court has granted six weeks’ time to the Government of India as well as State Government to file reply (counter-affidavit) in the case.
In the PIL, it has been alleged that then Union Human Resource Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi had laid the foundation stone for construction of ‘Science City’, at the cost of Rs 49 crore for which land was also made available by the State Government free of cost on the banks of Yamuna in Naini side at Allahabad and Rs 15 crore was also released on this account.
The PIL said there was rumour rife that present Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh was trying to transfer the same from Allahabad to Bhopal, thus, the PIL.
Appearing on behalf of the Government of India, the Additional Solicitor General of India Dr Ashok Nigam said the allegations made in the PIL were totally false and baseless. “Government of India has no such plan and there is no such move to transfer the Science City from Allahabad to Bhopal.
Dr Nigam further said the PIL was politically motivated as Arjun Singh had never suggested transfer of Science City from Allahabad.
As far as delay in setting up of Science City, as alleged in the PIL, was concerned, Dr Nigam said since various ministries were involved, their replies would reveal the actual position.
He also said that Arjun Singh, the present Union HRD Minister had been impleaded wrongly in this PIL, to which the court deleted the name of Arjun Singh from the array of respondents in the PIL.
The order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Justice Syed Rafat Alam and Justice Sudhir Agrawal on a PIL filed by Jai Prakash Rai, an advocate.
