Mumbai, March 29
Land acquisition for the construction of nuclear power plants at Jaitapur in Maharashtra’s Konkan coast area has come to a halt following large-scale protests from locals, said government sources.

The Maharashtra government was to acquire 968 hectares in five villages and hand it over to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), responsible for constructing the nuclear power plants as per provisions under the Indo-US nuclear pact. Beginning with two 1,650-MW plants, the area is slated to expand into a nuclear power park with a production capacity of 10,000 MW in the next 20-25 years. NPCIL has already signed a contract with France’s Areva for reactors, each costing between $ 5.2 bn and $ 7.8 bn.

Though the state government has officially acquired the land on paper, it has been unable to take possession after villagers refused to accept the payment. “Survey officials have been attacked and government officials are routinely chased away,” said a senior government official tasked with acquiring the land.

Konkan Vinashkari Prakalp Virodhi Samiti (KVPVS), an umbrella body consisting of villagers opposed to the project, are drawing the attention of political parties as well. After a protest recently, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray promised to join the agitation against forcible acquisition of land. “The Jaitapur project is not Shah Rukh Khan, and the government cannot complete it by applying force against the poor farmers,” Thackeray said, after a visit to the area. He also raised the bogey of radiation-related problems after the project is completed.

The opponents of the project received a major shot in the arm when Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said here earlier this month that environmental clearance for the Jaitapur nuclear project and thermal power plants, to be set up in Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri, are yet to be given.

Taking cognisance of the arguments made by the opponents of the projects, Ramesh said Maharashtra government would first have to do a carrying capacity analysis. “Maharashtra could engage organisations like the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur for the carrying capacity analysis,” Ramesh said here this month.

Ramesh further clarified that his ministry was yet to give the final environmental impact clearance for the nuclear power plant in the area. Apart from the Jaitapur nuclear project, five coal-based ultra mega power plants and two gas-based projects including expansion of the Dabhol power plant are now on hold.

New Delhi, March 29
Four years after she quit the National Advisory Council (NAC), following the office-of-profit controversy, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will again head the body, which was formally constituted today.

A press release put out by the Cabinet secretariat said as NAC chairperson, Sonia Gandhi would hold the rank and status of a Union Minister. However, it was also stated that an MP, who is appointed as a member of the NAC shall not be entitled to draw any remuneration, allowances or perks from the council. This means that the Congress president would not take a salary as NAC head since she is also a Lok Sabha member.

The NAC constitution, which was wound up after the Congress president resigned as its head, would allow Sonia Gandhi to play an upfront and proactive role in overseeing the UPA government’s flagship programmes and nudging it in pursuing the party’s “aam admi” agenda.

Packed with academics, experts and civil society representatives, the Sonia Gandhi-led NAC had virtually guided the social sector agenda of the last UPA government and was often referred to as the “super cabinet”. It had provided vital inputs on key legislations like the Right to Information Act and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and had been instrumental in pushing the government in incorporating its suggestions in the final reading of these laws.

New Delhi, March 29
The Supreme Court today ruled that any irregularity in Parliamentary proceedings is beyond judicial review.

“It is a right of each House of Parliament to be the sole judge of the lawfulness of its own proceedings. The courts cannot go into the lawfulness of the proceedings of the Houses of Parliament," held a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishanan.

The Bench refused to go into the validity of Lok Sabha Speaker's order of adjourning the proceeding in December 2003 and resuming it on January 29, the following year. The Speaker had construed it to be in continuation of the winter session and not the beginning of a new session, which is required to be addressed by the President.

The bench said, while it was open to the courts to scrutinise any illegal or unconstitutional procedure in Parliament, it could not do so if the complaint is regarding any procedural irregularity. RPI(A) leader Ramdas Athawale had challenged the decision of the then Lok Sabha Speaker.

New Delhi, March 29
The Supreme Court today rejected former Punjab police chief SS Virk’s plea for transfer of the investigations in the criminal cases filed against him by the state government outside the state, but allowed him to seek appropriate remedy at a later stage.

“The trial can be transferred, but not the investigations,” a Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan clarified during arguments made by senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi, who contended that the state government had filed the cases with a mala fide intention.

Rohtagi first sought the transfer of the cases to Maharashtra as Virk belonged to the IPS cadre from that state, but when the Bench did not show any inclination to grant the plea, the counsel said these could be shifted at least to Delhi for a free and fair trial.

The Punjab government had arrested Virk from Delhi even without any warrant despite the fact that he had put in meritorious service for 20 years in that state and this showed the state’s attitude towards him, the lawyer said.

Virk retired as DGP of Maharashtra recently and earlier he had held the same position in Punjab as well. The Punjab government has filed several cases against him on the charges of excesses and corruption.

New Delhi, March 29
Stung by criticism of veiled and personalised attacks against Amitabh Bachchan, the Congress today launched a frontal attack on Big B, asking him to clarify his stand on the role of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2002 riots in the state.

Congress spokesman Manish Tewari asked the actor whether he endorsed or condemned the BJP leader’s role in the 2002 “pogrom”, adding if Bachchan was indeed a “sensitive person as he claimed to be”, he should come clean on his views on the “fake encounters” that took place in Gujarat since Modi became its administrator.

“I want to ask Amitabh Bachchan a direct question. He is the brand ambassador for Gujarat. I want to ask him does he condemn the role of Narendra Modi and the Gujarat Government in the 2002 riots. If he is a sensitive person that he claims to be, it’s high time he tells the country where he stands on the issue,” the Congress spokesman said, stressing that issue, and not personalities, were important.

Congress has been in the line of fire from the BJP for a “personalised” attack against the actor due to his uneasy equation with the Gandhi family. Modi also hit out at the Congress, saying those opposing Bachchan were the “Talibans of untouchability”.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni has termed Modi’s comments “frustrated” outburst after his prolonged questioning by the special investigation team (SIT) over the 2002 riots.

From being Rajiv Gandhi’s trump card in 1984 and contesting on the party’s ticket from Allahabad to the point where he is not even on talking terms with the Gandhi family, Bachchan managed to cause quite a few red faces in the Congress by appearing at the inauguration of the extension of Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai.