The State government on Wednesday agreed to modify the guidelines for selection of candidates to posts of chairperson, member-secretary and members to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) following a suggestion made by the Karnataka High Court.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S. Kinagi, after going through the guidelines notified in June 2020, suggested to the State Advocate-General that it is better to modify the guidelines to avoid future litigation on appointments to be made to these posts based on the present guidelines.
Noticing that there are discrepancies in the guidelines on eligibility and qualification to be followed not only for selecting chairperson but also for the member-secretary and other members to the board, the Bench said that the present guideline requires modification to incorporate the observations made by the apex court as well as provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.
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The Bench was hearing PIL petitions, which have questioned the guidelines framed in June as well as the appointment of the present member-secretary to the board. The Bench, during the previous hearing, had already directed the government not to finalise the candidate to the post of board’s chairperson till the order of the court in view of variation in the qualification fixed in the guideline and the Water Act.
As A-G Prabhuling K. Navadgi said that the draft of the modified guidelines would be placed before the court on Monday, the Bench adjourned further hearing till September 21.