Election petitions should ideally be disposed within 6 months: K'taka HC
Bengaluru, Sep 8: The Karnataka High Court has observed that election petitions should ideally be disposed within six months.
It derided the habit of dragging such petitions till the next elections.
Justice Krishna S Dixit made this observation while hearing an election petition filed in 2018 by Muniraju Gowda, who as the BJP candidate, lost the Rajarajeshwari Nagar assembly seat to the then Congress candidate Munirathna Naidu, who is now a minister in the BJP government.
The court made this observation during the arguments when the counsels for both the petitioner and respondent were struggling to verify some of the documents submitted. The court said it was not prudent to waste the court's time in such cases.
Muniraju Gowda had filed the petition under the Representation of the People Act seeking the disqualification of Naidu.
Naidu subsequently joined the BJP and won the same assembly seat from the party in a by-election. While, Gowda is now an MLC from the ruling party.
Gowda deposed before the court on Thursday. He reiterated his allegation that Naidu had got officers of various departments transferred to places of his choice before the election was announced.
He also submitted documents to the HC regarding other cases that are pending in lower courts regarding his complaint about alleged corruption by Naidu.
Gowda also claimed he has filed complaints alleging corruption against Naidu, who was a powerful man, and a criminal case was also pending before the special court to try cases against politicians.
While Muniraju was deposing from the witness box, Justice Dixit directed the court officer to provide him a chair in the witness box itself saying there was no need for him to stand.
After a chair was provided, the Justice in a lighter vein said that people are attached to chairs (read position) and Gowda should leave this chair behind in the court after the hearing.
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
