Special court rejects closure of investigation by Lokayukta police against Karnataka CM Yediyurappa
Bengaluru, Jul 3: In a setback to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, a special court for public representatives on Saturday dismissed the 'B-Report' by the Lokayukta police seeking the closure of investigation against him in a 15-year-old case relating to denotification of prime land in Bengaluru.
The court also directed the Lokayukta police to expedite the investigation and furnish the final or additional final report.
Judge Sridhar Gopalakrishna Bhat said in his order, "The B Report submitted by the investigation officer under section 173(2) of CrPC is hereby rejected."
"Consequently, acting under section 156(3) of CrPC, the Deputy Superintendent of Police attached to the police wing of Karnataka Lokayuktha, Bengaluru is hereby directed to investigate the matter further in the light of the observation made in this order and to file final report/additional final report expeditiously as per law."
The court also reminded the investigation officer to keep in mind the observations made by the Karnataka High Court with regard to delay in conducting investigation.
The case pertains to the denotification of prime land in Bellandur and Devarabeesanahalli, which was related to Varthur-Whitefield IT Corridor.The land was acquired in 2000-2001 for an IT park.
However, in 2006-07, as the Deputy Chief Minister in the JD(S)-BJP coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy, Yediyurappa denotified the land according to the private complaint lodged by Vasudeva Reddy with the Lokayukta court alleging irregularities in the denotification.
The court directed the Lokayukta police to register a case, based on which a case was registered on February 21, 2015 under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In December 2020, Yediyurappa had filed a petition in the High Court seeking quashing of the case.
Yediyurappa had contended that the High Court had quashed the same FIR against the then Industries minister and Congress leader R V Deshpande on October 9, 2015.
Hence, the investigation against him based on the same FIR was illegal but the court rejected his argument.
Dismissing the petition, Justice John Michael Cunha directed the police to intensify the investigation.
The Lokayukta police had filed a 'B Report' seeking closure of the investigation which Reddy had challenged.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
