The court emphasized the need for accountability in public contracts, allowing judicial review to ensure fairness and public interest, while directing a CBI inquiry into irregularities in the Sports City Project.

JUDGMENT :

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. All the aforesaid writ petitions have been clubbed and heard together as they involve similar issue, and hence, they are being decided by this common judgement and order.

2. Heard Sri Shashi Nandan, learned Senior Advocate and Sri Anoop Trivedi, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Prateek Sinha, learned counsel for the petitioners, Sri M.C. Chaturvedi, learned Additional Advocate General assisted by Sri Devesh Vikram, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel and Sri Mohan Srivastava, learned Standing Counsel for the State-respondent nos.1 and 3 and Sri Manish Goyal, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Sri Kaushalendra Nath Singh and Ms.Anjali Gokhlani, learned counsel for respondent no. 2-Noida Authority.

FACTS OF THE CASE

3. Board of New Okhla Industrial Development Authority, [NOIDA] took a decision on 16.8.2004 to develop sports facilities of international standards in NOIDA. In the next meeting held on 25.6.2007 the Board came to a conclusion that since there are no sports facilities available in NOIDA, hence an area of 311.60 hectares was marked for development of the sports city. In the next Board meeting held on 8.4.2008, it was resolved, keeping the upcoming Commonwealth Games-2010 in mind, that the land use of Sector 76,78,79,101, 102, 104 and 107 be changed for the development of the sports city. However, the area earmarked to develop sports city was increased to 346 hectares. Accordingly, Grand Thorton was appointed to formulate the scheme and to lay down conditions for the allotment of the land. In the next Board meetings held on 18.9.2008 (154^th Board Meeting), the amended Master-plan 2031 of NOIDA was considered, and for the first time, the details, as to what is expected in the sports city, were mentioned. Clause 5.9.3 of the Master plan laid down the details for the development of the sports city, which is extracted below:-

“Development of a Sports City was proposed in the Central – Eastern part of Noida along the DSC Road. The proposed site is well linked by the proposed Master Plan roads connecting Expressway. National Highway-24, Greater Noida and other parts of the city. Noida Sports City envisions itself to be one of its kind in the Country, with a clear and defined focus on an integrated sports theme, its form providing a strong and such clearly identifiable image to Noida, where sports events catalyze other activities such as tourism, community meetings, exhibitions, conventions and festival. In order that the vision remains relevant, the sports and other related recreational and institutional facilities were proposed in the Sports City. Large size project of Sports-City could not be implemented. Therefore, the authority decided to have more than one projects of sports city of lesser sizes at different locations of the town. These Sports City projects would have about 50-100 hectares, or more land. The Sports City is basically a part of recreational land use and therefore its development is proposed in