Lavasa: CJ recuses himself

The Bench of Chief Justice Shah and Justice S J Katawala had last week given a patient hearing on the petition when the Additional Solicitor General,Daruis Khambhata,had proposed the developer reply to the notice issued by the ministry and accordingly it would pass the order on it by December 31.

The Chief Justice will now refer the petition to another Bench,which shall hear the case afresh. Lavasas petition challenges the notice and prays for lifting the stay imposed by the ministry because of which work on the project floated as a hill station is stalled.

The ministry had issued a show-cause notice to Lavasa on November 25,alleging it had not secured environmental clearances before starting construction on the 5,000 hectare area. Lavasa has challenged this notice.

It argued that Lavasa being a hill station did not need the clearances under the MoEFs 2004 notification. However,the ministry contended that Lavasa has violated the norms prescribed in the notification. The project near Pune is estimated to be worth Rs 3,000 crore and employs 8,000 workers.