HC upholds Katta Jr's legal objections

BANGALORE: The Karnataka high court on Tuesdayrejected the memo filed on behalf of the Lokayukta police seeking permission to allow former advocate general B V Acharya to plead on their behalf. The court was hearing the case relating to criminal petitions filed by Katta Jagadish, city corporator and son of former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu.
Allowing the legal objections raised by counsel representing Katta Jagadish, Justice V Jagannathan observed that Acharya was not appointed by the state government to plead in the case as a special public prosecutor and a special public prosecutor who is already appointed in the case cannot re-delegate his power.Even in the January 28 notification, it was only an instruction for appointing Acharya as special counsel, the judge said.
"The requirement of obtaining the consent of state public prosecutor has not been complied with. The special public prosecutor representing Lokayukta cannot `direct' a senior counsel like Acharya. It goes against Bar Council of India rules,'' the judge observed.
Under the criminal procedure code, a public prosecutor cannot ask another counsel to represent him.
Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing of a batch of petitions to February 18. Katta Jagadish has challenged the FIR lodged against him by the Lokyukta police in the KIADB scam.
BDA asked to give details
Justice D V Shylendra Kumar has asked the BDA to furnish by February 15 all details pertaining to how many persons have been given sites, the ongoing projects and the financial implications to the civic body and the deadline for the projects and the norms/criteria governing a scheme to be considered as completed.
The judge gave the direction while hearing a batch of petitions concerning Nadaprbhu Kempegowda layout.
Final hearing on March 8
A division bench has fixed March 8 as the final hearing date with regard to a petition filed by the state government challenging suo motu direction of the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission asking it to entrust the alleged rape case in which former minister Hartal Halappa is an accused to CBI.
The bench asked the government advocate to seek instructions on why the July 2, 2010 stay order in the case should not be vacated.
Advocate general Ashok Haranahalli who appeared on behalf of the state on the last occasion had claimed that the SHRC direction lacked jurisdiction as it could only recommend after holding an inquiry. Based on that the court had issued stay in respect of SHRC's May 21 directive.
SHRC had issued notice to police following a complaint of one Chandravati against the then food minister Halappa about having raped her during his stay in their house in November 2009.
Plea seeks narco test of BSY, 3 ex-CMs
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Bangalore: In a new twist to the ongoing land scam controversy, a petition has been filed in the Karnataka high court seeking narco analysis/brain mapping of chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and three of his predecessors H D Kumaraswamy, N Dharam Singh and S M Krishna.
The petition is filed by A C Rangaswamy, a senior citizen from Tumkur.
"All the four are washing dirty linen in public. So it is pertinent to order a narco analysis of all the four to unravel the truth," the petitioner has urged. The petition is likely to come up for hearing in a couple of days after undergoing formalities.
V-C's appointment upheld
A division bench has dismissed a PIL challenging the appointment of Prof Mallepuram G Venkatesh, vice-chancellor of Sanskrit University. "The best of academicians are worst administrators. Have you seen any vice-chancellor teaching? May be keeping this in mind, the legislature has stipulated a different parameter for the appointment of the first V-C of the Sanskrit University as per section 68 of the Sanskrit University Act,'' the bench observed while dismissing the PIL.
The petitioner, B S Krishna Prasad from Mysore, has claimed that Venkatesh no search committee was appointed to select a candidate.
Madani case hearing adjourned
The high court has adjourned the hearing of the bail petition filed by Abdul Nasser Madani, Kerala-based PDP leader who is an accused in July 2008 Bangalore serial blast case. Meanwhile, the state government filed a voluminous 700-page statement of objections contending that granting bail to him at this stage would jeopardise the ongoing investigation. The next hearing is on Thursday. Madani was arrested in August last year.