Wondering how an officer of the rank of Additional Chief Secretary was unable to understand what the court has observed in its order and the simple provision of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (KMC) Act, the High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday directed E.V. Ramana Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development Department), to come out with proper rules prescribing punishment for officials of the municipal corporations for failing to prevent illegal constructions and deviations.
We are sorry to observe that the said officer [Mr. Ramana Reddy] is not even bothered to read what the court has observed in its order on Section 321B of the KMC Act, which deals with penalty against jurisdictional officer failing to prevent unauthorised deviations or constructions, observed a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Mohammad Nawaz.
The Bench asked the government advocate to advise Mr. Ramana Reddy so that he could take proper action as per Section 321B of the KMC Act.
The Bench was hearing a PIL petition, which has complained about failure of the government to prescribe punishment for officers found guilty under Section 321B even though the provision came into force 12 years ago, on September 15, 2007.
Pointing out that its earlier orders were very clear on what the government was expected to do in terms of Section 321B, the Bench said instead of simply framing a rule under Section 321B stipulating punishment, the State had come out with a draft notification to amend certain rules on service conditions of officers and employees of municipal corporations prescribing penalty of up to ₹50,000.
