BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court slammed the state government for the transfer of Dr Keshav Abbayya, a professor of Gadag Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) and brother of Hubballi East MLA Prasad Abbayya, to the Department of Dentistry in the Karnataka Medical College and Research Institute (KIMS), Hubballi, on the instructions of Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil, in blatant violation of norms.
Allowing a petition filed by Dr Suneel G Patil, a professor at KIMS, Justice M Nagaprasanna said the permanent placement of Dr Abbayya and posting the petitioner below him is a blatant violation of binding statutory guidelines and indelibly tainted by political influence, and cannot be sustained in law.
“The petitioner’s subsequent promotion, though effective a few months later, does not efface or cure the illegality that vitiates the appointment of Dr Abbayya.
When the petitioner was statutorily entitled to promotion, importing an outsider into the lone available post in the department effectively divested the petitioner of both his seniority, a statutory right and his legitimate consideration of promotion, a fundamental right,” the court observed.
The HC quashed the transfer order dated March 5, 2024, and also the provisional seniority list dated January 21, 2025, issued by the KIMS.