The Hindu : Kerala News : High Court stays Ombudsman's order

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 06, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

High Court stays Ombudsman's order

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, OCT. 5. The Kerala High Court today stayed an order of the Ombudsman for Local Self-Government Institutions directing the Kochi Corporation secretary to demolish a building constructed over a drain on the Sahodaran Ayyappan Road and making the Mayor personally liable for `maladministration'.

The Ombudsman had also decided to recover the loss caused to the Corporation in this regard from the Mayor. The Ombudsman had ordered that the quantum of loss would be assessed later. Justice M. Ramachandran issued the stay order while admitting a writ petition filed by the Mayor, C.M. Dinesh Mani.

According to the petition, the Ombudsman's order was arbitrary and illegal. No notice had been given to him before issuing the order. This was a clear violation of the principle of natural justice. The Mayor pointed out that the owner was allowed to construct the building in lieu of the land given by him free of cost for widening the Sahodaran Ayyappan Road.

The Mayor said a resolution allowing the construction of the building was adopted by the Corporation council at a meeting held on March 17, 1998. Mr. Mani pointed out that he was not even a member of the Corporation council then.

On veto power

Referring to the Ombudsman's view that the Mayor should have exercised his veto power and stalled the resolution, he said the Mayor could not have vetoed the resolution when it was passed unanimously and in public interest. The Mayor countered the observation of the Ombudsman that he should have filed an appeal against the resolution before the Government under the provisions of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act. The Mayor said he was not expected to go against public interest. He alleged that the Ombudsman had been making disparaging remarks against him ever since he filed a petition before the High court challenging the powers of the Ombudsman recently. The action of the Ombudsman was mala fide. The order had been issued with a view "to attacking him personally and denigrating him before the public".

The petitioner said that if such an order was passed, public interest would be jeopardised. In fact, the Act required the Ombudsman to conduct an investigation if there were any complaints of maladministration in the Corporation.

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