Cuttack, Nov. 19: Orissa High Court has asked police to utilise Rs 3 crore provided by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for improvement of the traffic system in the city without further delay.

The division bench of Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice S. C. Parija issued the direction on Wednesday when it found that the money deposited by IOC in the high court in April had been left unused.

The high court had constituted the traffic management committee, Cuttack, in 2012 for a smooth system with co-ordination of all departments concerned. The high court had on February 27, 2012, imposed a set of conditions on the IOC for drawing water from the Mahanadi in Cuttack for its refinery-cum-petrochemicals project at Paradip.

One of the conditions was "to pay Rs 3 crore to the commissioner of police of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar towards the improvement and management of traffic system and signal lights at various junctions in Cuttack". The order was passed on a PIL filed by Nationalist Lawyers' Forum. Forum president Ghasiram Verma had filed a contempt petition in April alleging delay in compliance of the order.

An account was opened with the government treasury branch of the State Bank of India in Bhubaneswar. However, nothing has moved since then. IOC officials said that the money could not be deposited in the absence of a proper bank account of the commissioner of police (Cuttack-Bhubaneswar).

As directed by the court on April 16, the IOC deposited Rs 3 crore with the registrar (judicial) high court on April 24. As nothing has moved since then, the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday.<>But nothing had moved since then.

Earlier, during a hearing of the petition on April 16 the court was informed that though IOC was ready to deposit Rs 3 crore in the account of the Commissioner of Police Cuttack - Bhubaneswar they are unable to comply with the direction due to non-furnishing of Head of Accounts.

Taking note of the Court on that day (April 16, 2015) ordered: "Therefore we call upon the Commissioner of Police Cuttack-Bhubaneswar to take necessary steps immediately for creation of an appropriate Head of Accounts for accepting the money but till then the IOC is directed to deposit Rs 3 crore by way of pay order bank draft in favour of Registrar (Judicial) who shall keep the same in short term fixed deposit waiting further orders in this regard".