The city police on Saturday informed the High Court of Karnataka that 746 cases have been booked since 2014 under the provisions of the Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981.
As per the statement, filed in response to the court’s direction, 120 cases were filed in 2014, 234 cases in 2015, 176 cases in 2016, 212 cases in 2017, and four cases were filed in 2018 till February 8 based on complaints filed by officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike.
While complaints in 695 cases were found to be true, accused have been convicted in 141 cases, and accused were either acquitted or discharged in 20 cases. Trial in 315 cases are pending and 120 cases are under investigation, the police said, while pointing out that 15 complaints turned out to be false, 20 cases remained undetected, and 15 cases were transferred to other agencies.
The statement was filed during the hearing of a PIL petition, filed by Mayige Gowda, a resident of Saraswatipuram in the city. The petitioner complained about inaction on the part of the State’s agencies in effectively enforcing the law. It has been pointed out in the petition that no rule has been framed till today for implementing the anti-disfigurement law enacted way back in 1981.
Further hearing was adjourned till February 21.
