The Hindu : Karnataka News : Editor moves court against official's order

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 28, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Editor moves court against official's order

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, SEPT. 27. The Editor of a Kannada newspaper of Davangere has moved the Karnataka High Court against the order of the then Davangere Deputy Commissioner sentencing him to three months' imprisonment.

The petitioner, G.M.R. Aradhya, who is the Editor of Jana Miditha, said he had exposed several irregularities committed by the then Deputy Commissioner. He said the Deputy Commissioner had acted on a frivolous complaint and proceeded against him by registering a case under the provisions of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867. The Deputy Commissioner claimed that he had violated the provisions of the Act and on November 21, 2002 sentenced him to three months' imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 2,000.

He said the Deputy Commissioner did not have the power to sentence him and the power was vested only in the judicial magistrate. He urged the court to quash the November 21 order. Justice Huluvadi G. Ramesh on Monday adjourned further hearing of the case.

Stayed

Justice K.L. Manjunath on Monday stayed a notification by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) directing five residents of Bommasandra village to either demolish the houses in which they were staying or vacate them.

The NHAI, in its notices to Lakshmanaiah and four others, said the houses were illegal and unauthorised. The petitioners said they had been allotted the houses in 1975 under the "Janata Housing Scheme.'' They said the notice sent to them by the Project Director of the NHAI was illegal. As the NHAI was required to issue notice and pay compensation for any land or house it wanted to demolish.

They urged the court to stay the notice.

Adjourned

Justice S. Abdul Nazir adjourned further hearing of the petitions by several first year MBBS students challenging their discharge from the course.

The students said they were told by the managements that they had been discharged as the colleges had entered into an agreement with the Government on the seat matrix. Accordingly, 60 per cent of the seats were to be filled by the Government and 40 per cent by the managements.

The students said they were admitted to the course after they wrote the entrance examination conducted by COMEDK. They had paid the tuition fee and were attending classes.

They were discharged as the managements had to prune their quota from 50 per cent to 40 per cent.

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