'Will punish IIT Bombay': Supreme Cout rebukes after institute backs out of smog tower project
New Delhi/IBNS: The Supreme Court on Wednesday warned IIT Bombay of contempt if it carried through its intention of withdrawing a government project of erecting a smog tower in Delhi, said media reports.
The apex court said it would punish the institution for backing out of the project six months after a joint visit with Tata Power Ltd officials and a draft MoU drawn by the CPCB (central pollution control board) in January.
"I can't tolerate this nonsense. We will punish IIT Bombay and other authorities for delaying court orders. How can they back out after six months? How can they back out from a government project? I will draw up contempt case against them," Justice Arun Mishra said, reported NDTV.
The judge lambasted the Solicitor General and ordered him to get a reply from IIT Bombay first within 15 minutes and then after 30 minutes before relenting to list the matter for tomorrow, the report said.
Earlier the Solicitor General had informed the court that IIT Bombay had backed out of the project and the government is in talks with IIT Delhi and NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute) to build the tower.
On July 14, IIT Bombay had said it would not be able to work in the project as per the conditions laid in the MoU, such as taking responsibility for the overall coordination and verification of the works to be carried out by Tata Power Ltd, said the report.
The letter came just a day earlier the Central government had fixed a meeting with IIT Bombay and CPCB officials to discuss the issues connected with the project.
In December 2019, the Supreme Court had ordered the Centre to install a smog tower at Delhi's Chandni Chowk within three months, after which the government had filed an affidavit saying at least six months would be needed for it while senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Delhi government, said nearly nine months would be needed.
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