Tata, Essar told to follow rules in Chhattisgarh

Bilaspur, Sep 9: The Chhattisgarh High Court has directed the state government to ensure that all rules were strictly followed while setting up steel plants by Tata and Essar in Bastar district.

Delivering the 30-page judgement, which was reserved earlier, a division bench comprising Chief Justice S Rama Nayak and Mr Justice Dilip Raosaheb Deshmukh, yesterday rejected three PILs challenging the MOU (memorandum of understanding) the state government had signed with Tata and Essar group.

Stating that the state government had not violated any law by signing the MOU, the division bench said no constitutional rights had been infringed upon so far with regard to setting up the steel plants.

The PILs arose as the state government earlier declined to make public the MOU signed with Tata and Essar group resulting in confusion.

Mr Sudip Shrivastava of Bilaspur, Ms Sudha Bharadwaj of Durg and Dr Pratap Narayan Agrawal of Jagdalpur filed the PILs opposing setting up of the steel plants. They contended that the MOU was incomplete and its provisions were not being followed. The state government had given unilateral guarantee in the MOU, while the companies had not given any guarantee with regard to environmental protection, rehabilitation and other rules.

Both companies filed affidavits in the court promising to adhere to all legal provisions and to contribute in the development of the region.

UNI