The Karnataka High Court on Thursday stayed the order of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to its officers and staff not to participate in any inquiry being conducted by agencies like the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) or hand over any official document to these agencies without the Commissioner’s prior permission.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S. Kinagi passed the interim order on a PIL petition filed by S. Arunachalam, a resident of Amruthnagar.
The BDA Commissioner had issued these instructions in his communication dated July 8, 2020.
Pointing out that no provision of any law has been referred by the Commissioner to exercise the power to issue such a direction, the bench said that prima facie, the Commissioner’s decision interferes in investigation conducted by agencies like the ACB and the BMTF.
Observing that the BDA Commissioner, prima facie has no power to interfere in the investigation conducted by these agencies, the bench cautioned the BDA of serious action if no law officer represented the authority during next date of hearing on November 10 as the BDA has not responded to the court’s notice and queries made during the hearing on September 22.
