SC permits govt to build Commonwealth Games village

Clearing the uncertainty over the conduct of the Commonwealth Games 2010, the Supreme Court today gave its green signal to the government to go ahead with construction of the Games village.

The court said the construction did not pose any environmental threat.

A three-judge bench of chief justice KG Balakrishnan, justice P Sathasivam, and justice BS Chauhan set aside a Delhi High Court direction to appoint an expert committee to review the construction.

Some environmentalists had challenged the construction through a public-interest petition in the high court, alleging that the work was being carried out on the bed of the river Yamuna.

"The observation and conclusion of the high court that the site in question is on a 'riverbed' cannot be sustained," the Supreme Court said. "The high court disregarded and ignored material scientific literature and the opinion of experts and scientific bodies, which have categorically held that the CGV [Commonwealth Games Village] site is neither located on a riverbed nor on the flood plain."

The highest court's decision came as major relief to the Centre and the Delhi government. Attorney-general GE Vahanvati and solicitor-general Gopal Subramaniam had both argued that if the high court's direction were to be followed, it would jeopardise the conduct of the Games on which nearly Rs50,000 crore are being spent.

The two top law officers contended that cancellation of the Games would not only cause acute embarassment to the country, but would also make it liable to pay damages running into several crores of rupees to various countries and private stake holders.

The court, which examined various documents and materials in connection with the construction, said the authorities had taken adequate precautions, including inviting suggestions and complaints, and obtained clearances from various agencies, including the Union environment ministry.

The bench said the government had initated steps as early as in 1999 for changing the land use and also issued a global tender process for public-private partnership in the residential portion of the Games project, which was floated in December 2006 and completed in June 2007. The environmental clearance was granted on December 14, 2006.

Yet, the petition was filed thereafter, seeking stoppage of the construction, it noted. The court regretted that the high court passed a direction on the petition instead of dismissing it.

It noted that since a high-powered committee, comprising the lieutenant governor and the chief minister of Delhi besides noted environmentalist RK Pachauri, constituted at the behest of the prime minister, is monitoring the works, there is no need for another expert committee as directed by the high court.

According to the Supreme Court, the material put forward by the government clearly showed "that at every stage, ecological integrity of the river, the concepts of 'riverbed', 'flood plain', and 'river zone' were duly considered".

Moreover, the Games village site is located adjacent to the Akshardham temple whose construction was also upheld by the Supreme Court on a similar public-interest petition.

It regretted that the high court chose to ignore the Supreme Court judgment in the Akshardham temple case and, instead, took the view that they were on two different pieces of land and erroneously entertained the petition.

"Unfortunately, the high court has lost sight with regard to these material aspects. In Narmada Bachao Andolan vs Union of India (2000) 10 SCC 664 para 229, this court has held that the PIL [public-interest litigation] should be thrown out at the threshold if it is challenged after the commencement of execution of the project.

"It was also held that no relief should be given to persons who approach the court without reasonable explanation under Articles 226 and 32 after inordinate delay. We reiterate that the delay rules apply to PILs also and if there is no proper explanation for the delay, PILs are liable to be summarily dismissed on account of delay."