Is it possible to simply ask Tecom to butt out?

Smart City project in Kochi has been much touted for creating a lot of jobs in the IT sector benefiting the educated unemployed in the state. After four and a half years of its stone-laying, the project has not moved an inch forward. No doubt, political interference has stalled the project.

It was the previous government led by Congress leader Oommen Chandy that had mooted the project. The subsequent V.S.Achuthanandan government has not been amenable to some of the provisions of the agreement entered into between executing company, Tecom, and the government.

Achuthanandan government may have scored a point by saying that it was not giving over the existing IT park for free. But then was it forced to give freehold rights to Tecom? The government says there was no such provision, but Tecom insists on freehold rights of 28 acres, that is 12 per cent of the total extent of 236 acres. Oommen Chandy says there was no word, freehold, in the previous agreement.

Legal stalwarts should have been retained before signing the agreement. International companies dod that, but Kerala leaders limit legal advice to the one being given to it by the politically submissive lawyers. That will not do when it comes to issues that come up in the international arena.

Now, if Tecom is asked to butt out, will it sit idle? It will go before international legal fora for sufficient compensation. Adjudication, if any, would also entail huge compensatory provisions. Political oral blitzkrieg would not deter international companies from fleecing their pound of flesh.