The Hindu : Karnataka News : Dinesh Gundu Rao's election challenged

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Dinesh Gundu Rao's election challenged

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JULY 26. The Karnataka High Court on Monday ordered issue of summons to Dinesh Gundu Rao, the Congress candidate who won from the Gandhinagar Assembly constituency in Bangalore in the recent elections.

The petitioner, V. Nagaraj, said he had contested as the Janata Dal (Secular) candidate. He said Mr. Gundu Rao had polled 40,797 votes, while he got 12,529 votes.

He said he had asked the election authorities to verify the "correctness" and "genuineness" of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) before the voting commenced.

He said 108 EVMs were used in the constituency. A software engineer had told him that the EVMs could be tampered with.

He urged the court to set aside the election and seal the EVMs.

Justice R. Gururajan ordered issue of summons and adjourned further hearing of the case.

Dismissed

A Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice, N.K. Jain, and Justice Ajit J. Gunjal, dismissed public interest litigation (PIL) against the Bangalore Development Authority's (BDA) decision to reconvey land in some survey numbers in Thippesandra.

The petitioners, Dr. Jelani and 10 others, said Survey Nos. 107/1, 107/2 and 117 in Thippesandra had been earmarked for a park in the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP).

The BDA, through a resolution on August 6, 1982, decided to reconvey the land in these survey numbers and form a layout.

The petitioners objected to this on the ground that a land once notified as park under the CDP could not be used for other purposes.

They said the move to reconvey the land was illegal and arbitrary.

The BDA, in its counter, said the petitioners had no locus standi on the issue. Besides, the land sought to be reconveyed belonged to an individual.

Dismissing the PIL, the Bench fined each of the petitioners Rs. 2,000.

The petitioners were asked to deposit the amount within two weeks with the High Court Legal Services Committee, failing which the BDA could take appropriate action.

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