BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday said that any contract entered into with a third party for implementation of the North-South Tunnel Road project (Hebbal to Silk Board) in Bengaluru, should be subject to the result of a batch of public interest litigations challenging the project.
A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice KS Hemalekha passed the order after hearing petitions filed by Prakash Belawadi, Dr Adikeshavaru Ravindra and two others, and Citizen Action Forum challenging the project.
Meanwhile, the court issued notice to the state government, Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) and Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) on a PIL filed by Aravind S, seeking to declare Rule 24 of the BMLTA Rules, 2026, ultra vires the BMLTA Act, 2022, and Article 14 of the Constitution, and strike it down.
The petitioner also prayed in court to direct BMLTA to independently assess, in accordance with Sections 19 and 21 of the Act, all projects purportedly saved by the impugned Rule, including the proposed Tunnel Road project.
The court orally observed that there is a huge traffic issue in Bengaluru which needs to be addressed. How you do it, whether it’s through a tunnel or not, we are not going to supplement and express our view. Whether the procedure has been followed or not and counsels for the petitioners have to address it, the court said.
Advocate and MP Tejasvi Surya, appearing for one of the petitioners, submitted that they are primarily questioning the manner in which the decision has been taken for the Tunnel Road project, since there is arbitrariness and multiple procedural lapses in the decision. Let them not precipitate the matter, and a direction be issued to the State not to issue work orders for the project, he prayed.
The court told the government that if any contract is issued, it is to be mentioned that petitions challenging the project are pending before the High Court.
Seeking to quash the government order pertaining to the project, the petitioners alleged it was illegally pursued by the government through Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (B-SMILE) at an estimated cost of Rs 19,000 crore, without application of mind or statutory approval, and in violation of the constitutional mandate.
Stating that the project violates provisions under the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority Act (BMLTA), 2022, and environmental laws, the petitioners alleged that officials of the state government, Greater Bengaluru Authority and B-SMILE inspected Lalbagh in the first week of October, marked certain areas for acquisition and to cut trees, and start land excavation. No environmental impact assessment has been done, the petitioners alleged.
In view of this, the Advocate General had given an undertaking before court in October 2025 that no trees are being cut in Lalbagh, and none will be cut till the next date of hearing.