Govt pulled up for ignoring HC directions on official transfers

The High Court of Karnataka on Monday came down heavily on the government for not complying with its directions with regard to transfer of government officials.

A division bench comprising Justice H G Ramesh and Justice John Michael Cunha lambasted the government for causing revenue loss to the state exchequer.

The bench said that the state government has become incapable of running the administration and it is very unfortunate that the high court has to handle all the administrative issues of the government. Justice Ramesh asked why the government was delaying giving a posting to a government official who had been transferred.

Instead of serving the government, the transferred official has to spend most of his time in the corridors of the court seeking directions to the government. Despite directions from a division bench to the government to ensure that transfers are completed, the government has not taken any action. It has become a habit for the government to violate court orders, the bench stated.

The matter pertained to Sreedharan K, who was working as Special Land Acquisition Officer, Tumakuru. He had approached the court as he has not been given any posting. H V Omkarmurthy, who was working as a development officer in Karnataka Udyog Mitra, was transferred to Sreedharan's post in Tumakuru.

During the hearing, the government counsel informed the court that Sreedharan was appointed on deputation from another department and before the government could decide on allotting him a post, he has approached the court.

The bench directed the government to inform the court about the post that would be allotted to Sreedharan in the next hearing on June 14.

‘No narco test without accused’s consent’
The High Court of Karnataka on Monday dismissed the petition seeking directions to conduct special tests on Naresh Shenoy, the main accused in the murder of RTI activist Vinayak Baliga.
Baliga was murdered on March 21, 2016, in Mangaluru.
The victim’s father, Ramachandra Baliga, had approached the high court seeking directions to the police to conduct brain mapping, narco analysis and polygraph tests on Shenoy. 
The petitioner contended that the murder of his son is a conspiracy and asked the police to collect evidence against the accused by adopting scientific methods. Shenoy, one of the founders of the NaMo Brigade and a business tycoon, is out on conditional bail.
Justice K N Phaneendra dismissed the petition on the ground that the Supreme Court has ruled that such tests can be conducted only with the consent of the accused. The lower court had earlier dismissed the petition on the same ground. The judge, however, granted liberty to the petitioner to approach the Supreme Court.