Karnataka HC seeks response from government over PIL challenging appointment of State Child Rights panel chief

BENGALURU: The Karnataka high court on Friday ordered notice to the state government, Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights ( KSCPCR) and its chairperson K Naganna Gowda in response to a public interest litigation (PIL).

City advocate Sudha Katwa has filed this petition wherein she had challenged the appointment of Naganna Gowda as head of KSCPCR, citing that the same was done purely for political considerations, in violation of relevant Act as well as in a non transparent manner.

Adjourning the hearing by three weeks,a division bench headed by Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale asked the government and other responsibilities to file their statement of objections in response to the petition.

According to the petitioner, Naganna Gowda has been working as district president of ruling BJP in Mandya and as such his appointment was solely on political considerations and in gross violation of eligibility criteria and also going against the previous selection committee which had overlooked his( Naganna Gowda"s) candidature.

She has added that the KSCPCR,a statutory Commission, has been vested with certain important tasks vis-a-vis rights of children and exercises the power akin to a civil court by taking evidence, issuing summons etc.

"Since the role of chairperson is vital for functioning of the commission, the legislature has prescribed certain qualifications under the Act and such a post can be entrusted only to a person of eminence who has done outstanding work for promoting the welfare of children.However, there is nothing on record of KSCPCR to show that Naganna Gowda fulfills these criteria," the petitioner has stated.

She further claimed that Naganna Gowda"s appointment itself is shrouded in mystery as he was not the original applicant and was not part of 10 shortlisted candidates on May 9, 2022.

"Proceedings of the government dated October 21,2022 clearly show that four additional applications have been received after the due date and 12 candidates were shortlisted instead of the 10 originally shortlisted candidates.There are no records to show as to how additional applications have been received after the due date and how the shortlisted candidates rose from 10 to 12 during the intervening period from May 9,2022 to October 21, 2022," the petitioner has further added.

"The wrong tendency of appointing a political person to head such a statutory Commission by way of backdoor entry is fraught with great risk," the petitioner has further stated while seeking intervention of the court in the matter .