In Court

kiocl's fate sealed: The Supreme Court on November 29, 2005, dismissed a petition by the Kudremukh Shram Shakti Sangathan (KSSS) seeking a review of the court's judgement, which ordered the permanent closure of the mines by the Karnataka government from December 31, 2005.

The KSSS demanded changing the verdict as about 2,500 workmen would be deprived of their livelihoods. Besides, the closure will result in a loss of Rs 3,000 crore to the country. The Karnataka chief minister has promised to provide alternative employment for the workers.

court fines wcl: The Environment Court of Auckland District recently fined Wallace Corporation Limited (WCL) us $80,000 for objectionable odour from its Waitoa rendering plant. The fine is a result of 12 breaches of Wallace Corporation's resource consent for air discharge. The company was found "careless" in its failure to put in place robust systems for meeting its air discharge requirements. The court said WCL's neighbours life "was completely disrupted by odours of the most repellent kind". WCL pleaded guilty but argued that the rendering plant was essential for assisting the environment by disposing off dead animals and similar products.

watercourse enquiry: The Sindh High Court of the Hyderabad circuit bench in Pakistan recently asked the director of the Anti-Corruption Establishment, Karachi, to conduct an inquiry into the watercourse lining project to check why farmers were being deprived of water. The order was against a petition filed by Zohaib Hidayat complaining that the uc -1 nazim was hostile to him and had occupied his land illegally. The restricted flow of water could be due to the lowering of the beds of minor distributaries. Besides, there were reports of the use of substandard lining material for the watercourse.