The Hindu : Karnataka News : Court orders issue of notice to IAS officer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 20, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Court orders issue of notice to IAS officer

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, DEC. 19. The Karnataka High Court on Saturday ordered issue of notice to the Principal Finance Secretary, Government of Karnataka, on a contempt petition by several residents of Moda Bantwal village in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district.

A Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Nauvdip Kumar Sodhi, and Justice B. Padmaraj ordered issue of a show-cause notice to Sudhakar Rao, IAS, asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him for flouting the court's directions.

The petitioners, Thimmappa Setty of B. Mancha and 10 others, said the State Government acquired their lands in 1987-88 for widening the national highway. In 2001, the High Court awarded them compensation.

The petitioners said they did not seek enhancement of the compensation as they were illiterate. However, they applied for enhanced compensation in 2001.

They approached the High Court, which on August 18, 2003, asked the National Highways authorities to give them enhanced compensation.

When no compensation was given, the villagers filed a contempt petition. The court initiated contempt proceedings and directed the respondents, B.N. Chandrashekaraiah, Chief Engineer (National Highways) and Abdul Rahim, the Special Land Acquisition Officer, to be personally present.

When the matter came up today, the Bench sought the Advocate-General, B.T. Parthasarthy's views on punishing the officers for disobeying the court orders. Mr. Parthasarthy said the two officials were not the sanctioning authority and they could not be held responsible for not giving the enhanced compensation to the petitioners.

He said Rs. 7 crores of the Rs. 9 crores as compensation had already been disbursed and the rest would be given once the Union and the State governments sorted out the issue.

The Bench agreed with the Advocate-General and sought to know the official who would sanction the payment. When he said it was the State Government, the Bench said the State comprised of several officials and one official would be in charge of sanctioning money.

The National Highways officials said the Principal Finance Secretary was the sanctioning authority. The Bench directed issue of notice to him and posted further hearing of the case to January 21.

Directed

A Division Bench comprising Justice Sodhi and Justice B. Padmaraj on Saturday directed Vijaya Bhaskar, Education Secretary, to dispose of an application for grant of a no-objection certificate to Vidyavahini Samsthe of Tumkur.

A single judge on November 9, 2004, directed the Education Department to dispose of within four weeks the application by the samsthe seeking the certificate. The samsthe wanted to start the B.Ed. course and sought the certificate.

When the department did not oblige, the court directed the Education Secretary to be personally present.

When Mr. Vijayabhaskar appeared before the court today, the Bench asked him to dispose of the application within a week in accordance with law.

It adjourned further hearing on the petition to January second week.

Stayed

Justice N. Kumar on Saturday stayed for 12 weeks the move by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences to absorb in service several persons who were on deputation.

The petitioners, Jaimade Gowda and 65 other employees of the university, said they entered into service in 1996.

They said that though Section 36 of the RGUHS Act provided for recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff and repatriation of officials, the university had decided to absorb the services of several persons on deputation.

The petitioners said this was illegal and arbitrary and contrary to the Act. They urged the court to call for records and direct the university not to absorb those on deputation.

Petition allowed

Justice R. Gururajan on Saturday allowed a petition by a retired Air Force employee and said the Kendriya Vidyalaya had no right to collect fees from girl students as the move violated Article 21 (A) of the Constitution.

The petitioner, P. Raveendran, said his daughter was studying in Seventh Standard at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bangalore.

He said that on March 30, 2004, the principal of the school issued a circular fixing differential fees for students.

The children of the personnel employed at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and studying in the school were exempted from paying the fees, he said.

He challenged the fee structure and said it was unconstitutional, illegal and discriminatory.

Allowing the petition, Justice Gururajan said that under the Right to Education, the State should provide free and compulsory education to all children from 6 to 14 years. He said the Supreme Court had upheld this in several cases. Even the education code of the vidyalaya provided for not seeking any fee from girl students, he said.

The petition was partly allowed and the vidyalaya was permitted to continue the existing fee structure till April 4, 2005, as an interim measure till it was revised in terms of the court order.

Justice Gururajan said the petitioner was entitled to Rs. 2,000 to be paid within four weeks from Saturday by the vidyalaya. He said a copy of the order may be sent to the Secretary of the Primary Education, Karnataka, and the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.

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