By S A Ishaqui
Hyderabad,Feb. 13: The AP High Court on Friday stalled the government order awarding a road contract of Rs 120 crore on nomination basis to Maytas Infra Ltd, owned by family of the jailed Satyam foun-der, Mr B. Ramalinga Raju. The directive was issued even as the state Cabinet ratified the order of the roads and buildings department allotting the work to Maytas.
The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, had earlier defended giving the contract to Maytas by terming it a “cautious and conscious” decision taken after assessing the situation. On December 20, 2008, a fortnight before the Satyam scam erupted, the government had entrusted the construction of a road from Mangapatnam to K. Sugumanchipalli village in Kadapa district to Maytas.
The existing road would get submerged during the construction of a dam. Mr P. Narayana Reddy, sarpanch of the Obannapet village, and two others filed a petition challenging the allotment of work to Maytas. Counsel for the petitioner, Mr P. Veera Reddy, told a division bench comprising Chief Justice Anil R. Dave and Justice Ramesh Ranga-nathan that awarding such huge work on nomination basis to Maytas was illegal. He said that after the Satyam scam, Karnataka, Orissa and Maharashtra had cancelled contracts given to Maytas.
The court directed the government to stay proceedings on the GO. “If the award was not conferred in favour of Maytas don’t confer it,” said the bench. “If conferred, do not proceed further.”
The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, had earlier defended giving the contract to Maytas by terming it a “cautious and conscious” decision taken after assessing the situation. On December 20, 2008, a fortnight before the Satyam scam erupted, the government had entrusted the construction of a road from Mangapatnam to K. Sugumanchipalli village in Kadapa district to Maytas.
The existing road would get submerged during the construction of a dam. Mr P. Narayana Reddy, sarpanch of the Obannapet village, and two others filed a petition challenging the allotment of work to Maytas. Counsel for the petitioner, Mr P. Veera Reddy, told a division bench comprising Chief Justice Anil R. Dave and Justice Ramesh Ranga-nathan that awarding such huge work on nomination basis to Maytas was illegal. He said that after the Satyam scam, Karnataka, Orissa and Maharashtra had cancelled contracts given to Maytas.
The court directed the government to stay proceedings on the GO. “If the award was not conferred in favour of Maytas don’t confer it,” said the bench. “If conferred, do not proceed further.”
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