HC issues notices to K’taka govt over punishment for erring civic officials under new BBMP Act

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the state government on a public interest litigation (PIL) that seeks prescribing punishment to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (city corporation) engineers/officials under the new BBMP Act 2020 for failing to prevent illegal and unauthorised constructions.

The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Vishwajith Shetty heard the petition by advocate Umapathi S, which points out that Section 252 of the BBMP Act provides the power to the state government for action against erring officers.

“Though there is delegation of power on the engineers to supervise illegal construction, yet there is no corresponding accountability on the part of erring officials. This is primarily due to the gross negligence on the part of the State to prescribe punishment under Section 252 of the BBMP Act,” the petition says.

“Poor implementation will make even the greatest law ineffective. Therefore, the necessary rules should be framed at the earliest,” the petition pleads.

Additional Chief Secretary in the Urban Development Department, and the BBMP Chief Commissioner are the respondents in the PIL.