BENGALURU: Karnataka High Court on Tuesday ordered the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate to pass appropriate orders to transfer 200 cases of unauthorised flex banners wherein chargesheets are filed under Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981, to some other court for analogous hearing and expeditious proceedings.
“We expect the Magistrate concerned, to whom such matters are transferred, to ensure that the matters are brought to their finality at the earliest, preferably before the end of this month”, the court said while setting a new precedent to restore the glory of Bengaluru.
This was after Advocate General Uday Holla submitted that the jurisdictional police have filed chargesheets before courts concerned in 200 cases out of 234 registered between August 1 and 13. Of this, the division bench of Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice R Devdas said: “We are of the view that it would serve the cause of justice if all such matters are taken up in one court. In this regard, we would leave it to the discretion of the CMM, Bengaluru City, to pass appropriate orders in that regard”.
With regard to the case registered by the Ramamurthy Nagar police over alleged assault of BBMP workers while removing unauthorised flexes, the court said: “We are rather surprised as to how the prosecution at all allowed the matter to be fixed to August 18, 2018, when this court ordered the Magistrate to take up that matter on a day-to-day basis from August 13, 2018”.
In reply, Advocate General Uday Holla and State Public Prosecutor H S Chandramouli submitted that a Special Public Prosecutor has been appointed who shall make specific submissions before the Magistrate to take up the matter on the very day. Then the court said that the Magistrate has to endeavour to conclude the trial at the earliest, preferably by the end of this month.
Disfigurement, 234 cases registered
From August 1 to 13, a total of 234 cases were registered in different police stations under Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981. Among them, charge sheets are filed in 200 cases and ‘B’ report in two cases. The remaining 32 cases are under investigation.
Out of 234 cases, the highest cases are registered in Marathalli police station limits (50 cases), Bellanduru police station limits (27), Whitefiled police station limits (24) and HSR Layout police station limits(15), according to city police.