Cannot Interfere With Govt's Elevated Corridor Project In Hubli Merely Because Some Petitioners Claim To Be Experts: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation questioning the construction of an Elevated Corridor for Decongestion of traffic at Rani Chennamma Circle in Hubli City. A division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit said, “Merely because some of the petitioners too have expertise in the matter arguably, they cannot arrogate to themselves all the wisdom & expertise and thereby brand the project in question as being unwise and not feasible.” The plea was filed by Vikram and 86 others who claimed to be public spirited citizens. It was submitted that the whole project "militates" against the provisions of Indian Road Congress and the minimum required standards such as 30 metres Turning Radius, 25 metres Safe Stopping Site Distance, 2 metres Cycle Tracks, minimum width Foot Paths of 1.8 metres, minimum 7 metres breadth of Service Road, etc., would remain non-compliant. The court said, “The construction project in question essentially relates to the domain of Executive which will have the advantage of technology, feasibility and finance; courts by their very nature are ill-suited in deciding those factors, if called upon.” The bench held that its interference at this stage of the construction would be prejudicial to the public interest and State Exchequer.