BENGALURU: The state government has issued a gazette notification on November 16 prescribing penalties on jurisdictional officers who fail to prevent unauthorised constructions in municipal corporations and municipality limits. A copy of the notification was placed before a division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Pradeep Singh Yerur in response to PIL filed by advocate S Umapathi.
If the commissioner, upon a complaint or taking suo motu cognizance, is satisfied that the jurisdictional officer has failed to prevent unauthorised deviation or constructions under Section 321 B of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, can impose a penalty. The process should be complete within two months, the notification issued by the Urban Development Department says.
The Karnataka Municipal Corporations (levy of penalty on jurisdictional officer for failure to prevent unauthorised construction and deviation) Rules, 2019, prescribe the penalty as — for the first instance, he/she shall be levied a penalty between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000; for second instance, between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh. For the third and every subsequent instance, the commissioner shall initiate proceedings under Section 90 of the Act.