Alka Verma-
Published On: October 1, 2021 at 19:22 IST
On Friday, Karnataka High Court dismissed a PIL which challenged an Order of the Deputy Commissioner of Kodagu district.
The Deputy Commissioner issued an Order which allowed the land conversion, for a lady belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, to operate and establish a retail outlet of Indian Oil Corporation.
A Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum termed the PIL frivolous which was filed by Social Activist Jagadeesha MS.
“The present petition is nothing but a frivolous PIL and deserves to be dismissed with a cost of Rs 1 lakh and is accordingly dismissed. The petitioner shall deposit the amount with the Karnataka Advocates Clerks Welfare Fund, within a period of 30 days,” stated the Court.
The case is about an PIL filed against an Order which converted the land for opening a retail outlet.
It is said that PY Malini, the Respondent had applied for a dealership which initially allotted to her.
The company after verifying everything, allowed her for the establishment and similarly she submitted an application granting permission for the conversion of land.
All the concerned authority after conducting a survey allowed the conversion of land.
The High Court after observing everything stated that it doesn’t find any illegality in the Order.
“This Court has carefully gone through the aforesaid order and has not been able to notice any illegality or irregularity in the order passed by the competent authority i.e. Deputy Commissioner (Kodagu District),” stated the Court.
The Court also observed that even though the conversion Order was not passed, the Petitioners were ready to file a Petition so that the Order couldn’t get passed.
“This really is a shocking state of affairs, even after 70 years of Independence, when a retail outlet is being allotted to a person belonging to a scheduled caste, all efforts are being made to ensure that she does not succeed in operating the retail outlet,” observed the Court.
It should be noted here that the Order passed by Deputy Commissioner was under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act 1964, and all other formalities were completed during the process.
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