66-year-old man asks to be made Karnataka chief minister, high court dismisses petition

The petition was dismissed by a division bench of Justice H G Ramesh and Justice Mohammad Nawaz, saying that no grounds were made to consider it, after they heard the matter for sometime.
Karnataka High Court (File Photo)
Karnataka High Court (File Photo)

BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Friday encountered an unusual case where a sexagenarian from Shivamogga district, who claimed to be a social worker, sought directions by the court to the Governor to invite him to swear in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

 The petitioner, 66-year-old T D R Harishchandra Gowda, is a native of Tudur in Theerthahalli taluk of Shivamogga district. While arguing on his own (party-in-person), he sought directions to the Governor to consider his representations and invite him to swear him in as the Chief Minister to form the government. 

However, the petition was dismissed by a division bench of Justice H G Ramesh and Justice Mohammad Nawaz, saying that no grounds were made to consider it, after they heard the matter for sometime. During the hearing, the court hall drowned in laughter when Gowda replied to the queries of the bench. 
Replying to a question about how he will get the support of MLAs, Gowda claimed that Congress MLAs, who are talking differently will come running to support him if the court issues notice to them. 

Similarly, even JD(S) MLAs will support him, as he was instrumental in making JD(S) Supremo H D 
Devegowda the Chief Minister and also Prime Minister. To another question, Gowda said that he would eradicate corruption and hence he wanted to become Chief Minister. He also mentioned that he would curb corruption by keeping all cabinet ministers under his tight control. He said his focus is not for the entire country as Narendra Modi is there to look after it, but he would ensure Karnataka became a corruption-free state, he said. 

Claiming that he is a member of AICC for 42 years and a true loyalist of the Nehru-Gandhi family, Gowda, in his petition, pleaded that his three letters dated May 18, 21 and 22, 2018 were not considered by the Governor, where he had requested him to invite Gowda to swear in as the Chief Minister.

He narrated that there was nothing wrong in inviting B S Yeddyurappa to form the government by the Governor in the first place but Congress — the second largest party — was not at all invited. In that case, the Governor should have acted on his letters and allowed him to be sworn in as CM. Earlier this week, a division bench of Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Krishna S Dixit referred the matter to another division bench, as Gowda sought permission to argue in Kannada, though his petition was drafted 
in English.

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