BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday held that Rame Gowda was a usurper of public office, and issued a writ of quo warranto directing him to resign as Engineer-in-Chief of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP).

A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph and Justice B. Padmaraj, allowed a public interest litigation petition by K.A. Sumitradevi and others challenging the reappointment of Mr. Rame Gowda as Engineer-in-Chief after his retirement.

The petitioners said Mr. Rame Gowda retired from service on May 31, 2005. The BMP Commissioner, on April 29, 2005, had written to the Government stating that work on civic projects remained. The letter said an engineer-in-chief needed to be appointed to complete the projects, and requested the Government to depute an officer from the Public Works or Irrigation departments from the cadre of a chief engineer to the post of an engineer-in-chief.

On June 2, 2005, the then Chief Minister sent a minute to the BMP Commissioner directing him to submit a proposal to the Government on reappointing Mr. Rame Gowda as engineer-in-chief. A notification on June 13, 2005 ordered Mr. Rame Gowda's appointment under Rule 20 (b) of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Rules as engineer-in-chief.

The petitioners said a single judge of the High Court had allowed two writ petitions against the reappointment. However, BMP Additional Commissioner Gaurav Gupta issued an order on December 16, 2005 appointing Mr. Rame Gowda as engineer-in-chief.

The Bench quashed the order and said it had no legal sanctity. Mr. Rame Gowda's reappointment was contrary to the statute. It said the order reappointing Mr. Rame Gowda came to be issued in haste. T

he requirements of the statute were not complied with, the court said.

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