HC to govt: How can you appoint officials of doubtful integrity?

BENGALURU: Expressing shock over posting officials with doubtful integrity to the office of the Competent Authority (CA) appointed to deal with IMA scam cases, the High Court on Wednesday sought an explanation from the state government.A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S Vishwajith Shetty directed the Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms to file an affidavit explaining why the officials against whom Lokayukta or ACB inquiry is pending were posted without a background check.

Asking the DPAR to explain the steps taken on the CA’s proposal for creation of independent posts, the bench directed it to ensure adequate number of staff, considering the magnitude of the scam and the huge number of depositors.Referring to the report submitted by Harsh Gupta, the CA, the bench said, “The CA’s report reveals that the officials with doubtful integrity are posted to the posts of Joint Secretary, Assistant Commissioner and Tahsildars. Some officials have not reported for duty citing personal reasons. As a result, it will be difficult for the CA office to carry out the work.”

The CA said the process of receiving claims online will continue till Dec 24. Both SMS and voice messages were sent to 71,418 depositors to submit claims, in addition to the letters written individually to 76,597 depositors. The bench said that this showed the magnitude of the CA’s task.

‘KSPCB chief needs training in eco-laws’
Making an observation that it is high time that the chairman and secretary of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) underwent training on environment laws and rules, the High Court on Wednesday directed IFS officer Vijaykumar Gogi, chairman of the Board, to file an affidavit explaining under which law he exercised the powers to decide what is “prosecutable offence”and what is “not prosecutable offence” on the use of loudspeakers at a mosque in Bengaluru.