The High Court of Karnataka on August 18, directed the State government to treat as a representation a PIL petition which has questioned the zero traffic facility provided to Shashikala A. Jolle on August 4 to reach Raj Bhavan on time from the airport for the oath-taking ceremony of council of Ministers.
The court also asked the government to take appropriate decision on the complaints made in the petition and submit the decision taken by the government by September 22.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice N.S. Sanjay Gowda issued the directions on a petition filed by G. Balaji Naidu, a city-based advocate. The police had misused their discretionary power to grant zero-traffic clearance for Ms. Jolle’s vehicle even though she was not entitled for the facility as it is available for the Chief Minister, Home Minister of the State, apart from the President, Vice-President, Governors, Union Ministers, the petitioner had said while pointing out that she was only MLA at that time.
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Quoting media reports, the petitioner said zero traffic was provided to her to reach Raj Bhavan in time for oath taking as her flight from Delhi was delayed, and this had caused huge hardship to general public. Though the Bench orally asked the government whether such a facility could be given to an MLA, the Bench ordered the petition to be treated as a representation as government advocate pointed out that the petitioner had directly approached the court sans submitting representation to the authorities concerned.