High Court imposes cost of Rs one lakh on Karnataka govt
Bengaluru(PTI): Coming down heavily on the Karnataka government for its "lethargic attitude" for failing to make efforts to obtain sanction to prosecute a former chief secretary, the High Court imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on it.
The government pleader had sought six weeks' time to get sanction for prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act on April 20, 2022, and the court had granted six weeks.
In its recent daily order, the HC said "It appears that the government is not interested in pursuing the matter and protecting the property of the State, which is at the hands of the former Chief Secretary. Hence, the very attitude of the State has to be deprecated and till date even not processed the papers for getting sanction from DOPT (Department of Personnel and Training) and yet to send the papers."
Hence, the HC imposed the cost of Rs one lakh on the state government which has to be paid within one week.
"The state government is directed to deposit the fine amount and recover the same from the concerned, who have not taken any action in getting the sanction from the DOPT in sending papers in spite of six weeks time being granted."
The original complaint had been filed by Bhaskaran alleging that Arvind Jadhav, the then Chief Secretary, along with the deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner and Tahsildar of Anekal taluk had misused official power to create fake documents pertaining to government land in village Ramanayakanahalli in Anekal taluk.
The government initiated action against junior government officials and sanctioned permission to prosecute them under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
One of the accused, a surveyor at the department of land records, D B Gangaiah, approached the High Court against the case filed against him through his advocate A V Nishanth.
This petition is pending before the High Court from 2020. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had submitted the progress report on the case to the HC in sealed covers in 2021. The court was informed that sanction to prosecute Anil Kumar, tahsildar of Anekal and other officials were pending.
In February 2022, the HC was informed that sanction was obtained to prosecute all government officials accused in the case except the retired Chief Secretary as he was "already retired from service and competent authority has to give sanction and the same is in process and it takes time since they have to get sanction from the Central Government DOPT."
In March, four weeks were sought to get the necessary documents translated. When the petition came up before Justice H P Sandesh on June 8, the sanction had not yet been obtained.
"...it appears that the state government is proceeding in the matter in a lethargic attitude and this Court has to prevail upon the state government to protect the property of the State when the former Chief Secretary made an attempt to knock off the property to an extent of 66 acres, in spite of complaint being filed in the year 2016," the HC said.
The Court has warned of serious action if the fine is not paid. "If cost is not paid, a serious action will be taken against the concerned regarding not processing the papers for getting the sanction from the department concerned," the Court said.
The petition has been posted for hearing next on June 16.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
===================
The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
