State govt refuses to foot Chief Justice Dinakaran's hotel bill

Rs 32,065 billed for a days stay at Lalitha Mahal Palace in Mysore

Documents in possession of Deccan Herald indicate that having booked a room for Justice Dinakaran’s stay at the Lalitha Mahal, the Mysore district administration later took the stand that it was in no position to pay the bill which it sent to the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) on September 3, 2009, requesting it to foot the bill at the earliest.

The Chief Justice arrived in Mysore on the night of July 17 after his visit was intimated to the deputy commissioner who had arranged for a ‘duplex suite’ at the hotel as well as a smaller room for Justice Dinakaran’s doctor who had accompanied him.

Under renovation
The deputy commissioner could not book a room for the Chief Justice at the state guest house in Mysore since it was under renovation.

Unmoved by the Mysore deputy commissioner’s missive, the DPAR said in its response of October 24, 2009 that it was in no way concerned with paying Justice Dinakaran’s hotel expenses and that the bill should therefore be forwarded to the High Court which should settle it.

The matter came to light following an application filed by a City-based advocate Sadashiva Reddy, under the Right to Infromation Act.
When the High Court Registrar General wrote to the DPAR on December 22, 2009, communicating that the state government should foot Justice Dinakaran’s bill, a department under-secretary, K V Ramu, shot back a letter on January 19 this year that he was under instructions to convey to the High Court that the bill amount be paid by the money allocated as grant to the Court.

No comments
Although Lalitha Mahal Palace authorities refused to comment on the issue, KSTDC sources said that “whosoever gave the hotel an authority letter
intimating and booking the rooms for Justice Dinakaran and his doctor must pay the amount.”

Asked what the minimum time would be before the bill must be settled, the sources said “although an authority letter is sufficient, in government-to-government dealings payments usually come in quite late”.

In this context, the sources said that even though Lalitha Mahal Palace was yet to receive the payment, the hotel is hoping that the bill would be settled before the financial year is out by March 31 this year.
DH News Service