The alleged corruption in organising the Commonwealth Games (CWG) has upset the Supreme Court (SC), which is already handling law suits seeking CBI probe into the telecom scam involving Rs60,000 crore.
“There is rampant corruption in the country. We cannot shut our eyes,” a bench of justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly remarked on Thursday, referring to the Rs70,000 crore spent on the Games.
“Till October 15, CWG is a public purpose. Thereafter, everything will be private purpose,” an anguished bench said, taking exception to the collapse of a pedestrian bridge near Nehru Stadium a week ago.
The bench was hearing an appeal filed by the Archaeological Survey of India challenging a Delhi high court order four years ago that asked it to consider leaving 100 metres of distance from a protected monument for construction of any building.
In this case, a builder wants exemption from the rule to construct a multi-storey building. When the court was informed that the plot marked for construction of the multi-storey building faced Jantar Mantar and falls within 100 metres of the monument, they gave a dressing down to the civic body. “It’s a totally unethical government with no moral values,” the judges said.
Reserving the verdict, the bench castigated the government for corruption. Noting the executive’s indifference towards protected monuments and love for commerce, the judges sarcastically suggested, “Why don’t you convert Jantar Mantar into a hotel or a mall and India will shine?”
