Govt plans to seek public opinion on schoolkids' safety

The State government on Thursday submitted in the High Court that it would like to seek public opinion over the ‘comprehensive policy on safety of schoolchildren’ before the policy gets approved in the Cabinet and sought time for the same.

Justice A S Bopanna granted two weeks time and adjourned the hearing.

The Karnataka State Minorities Educational Institutions Managements Federation and others have filed a petition, seeking clarity on the guidelines for safety of schoolchildren as there were conflicting guidelines by different departments.

The court had, on several occasions, questioned as to why there was a delay in approving the said policy. The government had stated that the policy required the Cabinet’s approval.  

Plea dismissed
The High Court has dismissed the petition filed by P S Kusumalatha, Deputy Director of Land Records, Hassan, seeking that the FIR filed against her by the Lokayukta on corruption charges be quashed. 

Aatif Pasha, employed in Dubai, visited Hassan for the ‘podi’ of his land (division of the RTC into two or more - RTC is Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crop) and approached Kusumalatha for the same. She sought a bribe of Rs one lakh to execute the work and Pasha paid her Rs 50,000. For the remaining amount, Kusumalatha asked for Pasha’s passport to be kept in her custody.

Pasha gave his passport and a blank cheque as security for the remaining Rs 50,000. He later lodged a complaint with the Lokayukta, who asked him to go to her with a voice recorder. Later, the Lokayukta raided her house, found the passport in her house and filed an FIR against her. 

Kusumalatha approached the High Court, seeking the quashing of the FIR filed in 2013, stating that voice recording was like conducting an inspection on her.

The Lokayukta argued that it was a preliminary inquiry against her, following a complaint. Justice S N Satyanarayana dismissed the petition.

Fir quashed
The High Court has quashed the FIRs filed against K P Nanjundi, owner of Lakshmi Gold Palace, and allowed his petition. Nanjundi had approached the court, seeking that two FIRs filed against him be quashed.

Sayan Roy, a supplier of gold jewellery to Nanjundi, had lodged a complaint at the Malleswaram police station that Nanjundi had cheated him of Rs 14.5 crore and had issued a life threat to him. Roy said that the amount was due to him from Nanjundi.
A similar FIR was filed in Mangaluru too. The counsel representing Nanjundi stated that two FIRs cannot be filed on the same complaint and that there was not material to prove the claims in the complaint.

Justice Rathnakala quashed the FIRs and allowed the petition filed by Nanjundi.

Construction of court halls
The High Court on Thursday directed government departments to allow construction of a multi-storey parking facility and court halls on the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court premises on Nrupathunga Road here.

But a division bench of acting Chief Justice S K Mukherjee and Justice B V Nagarathna made it clear that construction of the facility must not damage the greenery of Cubbon Park in any manner and necessary precautions must be taken to preserve the park area.

The Advocates’ Association of Bangalore (AAB) had urged the court to direct the Horticulture and Public Works departments to approve construction of three floors of car parking, five floors of court halls, office space and a building for the AAB. The project costs Rs 26 crore and the tender was approved through e-procurement on January 12, 2015.