BENGALURU: Frustrated with the lax attitude of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, the Karnataka High Court on Friday pulled up commissioner BH Anil Kumar for openly defying the court’s orders six times, over compensation payable to victims of pothole accidents.
"We are really frustrated with the approach of the BBMP and commissioner," the division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Hemant Chandangoudar observed, during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by Vijayan Menon and others.
The court had previously ordered the commissioner to submit on Friday the names and addresses of all those who participated in the meeting in which a unanimous decision was taken not to implement the court’s order directing BBMP to give wide publicity in the media that citizens are entitled to compensation in case of accidents due to potholes in the city.
The court had asked for the names of the mayor, deputy mayor, leader of the opposition and ruling party, and heads of standing committees who were present during the meeting, to issue contempt notices for wilful disobedience of the court order.
When the matter was taken up for hearing on Friday morning, BBMP counsel submitted that a unanimous resolution was not adopted during the meeting, but a consultation held with elected representatives on the directions of the court.
Unhappy with this, the bench pointed to the affidavit filed by the commissioner on September 4, 2019, stating that a unanimous decision was taken not to implement the order of the court at the meeting chaired by mayor. "If that is not the case and only a consultation, then the affidavit filed by the commissioner is false," the bench said.
"As we are showing leniency, the commissioner is brazen now. Six times he has defied orders passed for the welfare of citizens. See the degree of defiance... This is contempt of court. There is a limit for tolerance. We will not compromise when it comes to majesty of the court and have already sent a message. The time has come to secure the commissioner’s presence in court," the bench observed, adjourning the hearing for the afternoon.
‘Commissioner not a school-going child’
In the afternoon, the commissioner was present in court. Senior counsel representing BBMP submitted that the affidavit filed by the commissioner was a draft. Expressing displeasure, the bench said, "The commissioner is not a school-going child to sign on a draft. If the commissioner is allergic to say the affidavit he filed is ‘false’, call it ‘incorrect’. Now the commissioner will be prosecuted for perjury."
The bench said it will consider the affidavit only if the commissioner files it, stating that he is guilty of his conduct and will implement every order of the court here onwards, besides tendering an apology. This apart, the mayor and others who participated in the meeting should also file affidavits tendering apologies, it said, adjourning the hearing to Tuesday.