The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred the hearing on a petition by former minister Subramanian Swamy alleging that Transport Minister TR Baalu is trying to hurry up the implementation of the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP) to further his family's business interests.
A bench of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan deferred the hearing on the petition by the president of the now defunct Janata Party owing to confusion among various counsels over the date of hearing of the matter.
In an application filed on Tuesday, Swamy had alleged that Baalu's family members had business interests in both fishing and shipping sectors, and the building of a shorter sea route around India's southern peninsula would greatly benefit them.
Swamy made the allegation in an application that also sought the court's direction to make Baalu a party to the petition against the implementation of the SSCP project and allow him to have his say during the hearing of the petition.