The Supreme Court has sought assistance from a senior advocate on the course of action to be taken in the wake of trenchant criticism of its ruling on the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) by Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy and activists of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), a non-government organisation.
The Gujarat government yesterday presented before a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice A S Anand, Justice S P Bharucha and Justice B N Kirpal several statements by NBA activists and Roy's book, 'The Greater Common Good', a portion of which deals with the fallacy of the court ruling permitting raising of the height of the Saradar Sarovar Dam from 80 meters to 85 meters
Counsel for the state government, Harish Salve, said the court's order had been attacked in a manner that brought down its dignity.
The bench after perusing the material and a portion of Roy's book said, "Prima facie it appears that there is an attempt to undermine the dignity of the court and influence the course of justice."
"However, before proceeding any further with the case, we decide to appoint an amicus curiae who will advise the court as to what action should be taken in the matter as well as in the (main) petition," it said.
The Chief Justice particularly referred to Roy's statement that the court was only interested in playgrounds and parks for children but did not care for the tribals whose land was being submerged by the order allowing the height of the Narmada dam to be raised from 80 metres to 85 metres.
The court appointed K K Venugopal, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, as 'amicus curiae' to advise and assist the court in this matter. The case will be heard again on July 29.
The main petition filed by the Narmada Bachao Andolan five years ago was not discussed as the whole proceeding was about the attack on the court.
Counsel for NBA, Shanti Bhushan, said the Gujarat government had paid little attention to the plight of the oustees.
He contended the tribunal's award on Narmada project, which envisaged proper rehabilitation of all the persons whose land would be inundated by the water of the reservoir, had not yet been fully implemented by the state.
The NBA counsel said the oustees of the Sardar Sarovar project had recently decided to undergo 'jal samadhi' (voluntarily die by getti
