Judge chastises Bengaluru Rural DC, assistant

The high court has orally warned Bengaluru rural deputy commissioner S Palaiah that he will be imprisoned if he does not approve an application for land conversion that has been delayed for a long time   now despite the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal's (KAT) order to do so.  

Reacting to a writ petition by Mangilal from the city, the single judge bench comprising Justice S N Satyanarayana took Palaiah and his office assistant M C Narasimha Murthy to task.  

The court questioned why the application had not been cleared despite KST orders and pointed out that complaints had been received that "the DC was demanding lakhs of rupees as bribe". "You should be ashamed of yourselves," the judge told the DC and his assistant who stood meekly their hands folded during arguments.    

"You must submit a promissory note to the court by 10 am tomorrow. If I find mistakes in it, I will decide whether to put you on a public bus or a jeep. I might even order a CBI investigation, " the judge said sternly.    

Additional Advocate General A G Shivanna intervened to placate the angry judge. To this the judge remarked-

"Look Mr. Shivanna, I am not joking. Please come to my chambers and I will show you the number of complaints I have received about the DC. I feel sad to see all this."    

"I have no vested interest in this matter. The system has turned bad due to such officials. I will not spare this officer. This is just the beginning. I will see it to the end," the judge added.