KMF employee is 'public servant', can be tried under Prevention of Corruption Act: Karnataka HC
Bengaluru, Aug 11: The Karnataka High Court has ruled that those under the employment of Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) are 'public servants' and therefore can be tried under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the judgement in a case where a former general manager of Nandini Milk Products (a unit of KMF) had challenged the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) action against him for amassing disproportionate assets.
The HC said the petitioner being a General Manager undoubtedly performs public duty and the government obligations of such public duty was transferred to the Federation, when the Federation was created, and therefore, the inescapable conclusion would be that the petitioner would be a public servant within the meaning of Section 2(c) of the Act.
The case was registered against V Krishna Reddy under the Act in 2021 and is pending before the Principal District and Sessions Judge at Chikkaballapura. He had joined KMF as a technical officer in 1997 and reached the post of general manager.
An ACB probe found he had disproportionate assets to the tune of 107.70 per cent. He had approached the HC which had granted a stay on the proceedings on March nine, 2022.
The figures shown in the assets and liabilities statement run to several crores. The aforesaid facts are a matter of record though they are figures prima facie, the HC said.
The HC held it does not matter how much percentage of share the Government holds in an entity. But even if a 'sprinkling aid' is provided it would be sufficient to bring an employee with the definition of 'public servant.'
If the petitioner is a public servant under the Act, the registration of crime against him for offence punishable under Section 13(1)(b) of the Act, cannot be found fault with as it cannot be said, that it is, dehors jurisdiction, the Court said dismissing Reddy's petition.
Commenting on corruption in public life, the HC said in the judgement, It is beyond any cavil of doubt that corruption has percolated to every nook and corner of public life in the country and has become an issue in all walks of life posing a grave danger to the concept of constitutional governance; corruption emerges in various hues and forms and is therefore, unfathomable.
Citing the Supreme Court verdict in the 'Mansukhbhai Kanjibhai Shah' case, the HC said, Zero tolerance towards corruption should be the top-notch priority for ensuring system based and driven, transparent and responsive governance. Corruption cannot be annihilated but strategically be dwindled by reducing monopoly and enabling transparency in decision-making.
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Los Angeles county wildfires could be costliest in US history, early estimates say
Los Angeles, Jan 11: The wildfires that erupted this week across Los Angeles County are still raging, but already are projected to be among the costliest natural disasters in US history.
The devastating blazes have killed at least 11 people and incinerated more than 12,000 structures since Tuesday, laying waste to entire neighbourhoods once home to multimillion-dollar properties.
While it's still too early for an accurate tally of the financial toll, the losses so far likely make the wildfires the costliest ever in the US, according to various estimates.
A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between USD 135 billion and USD 150 billion. By comparison, AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic losses caused by Hurricane Helene, which tore across six southeastern states last fall, at USD 225 billion to USD 250 billion.
“This will be the costliest wildfire in California modern history and also very likely the costliest wildfire in US modern history, because of the fires occurring in the densely populated areas around Los Angeles with some of the highest-valued real estate in the country,” said Jonathan Porter, the private firm's chief meteorologist.
AccuWeather factors in a multitude of variables in its estimates, including damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure and vehicles, as well as immediate and long-term health care costs, lost wages and supply chain interruptions.
The insurance broker Aon PLC also said Friday that the LA County wildfires will likely end up being the costliest in US history, although it did not issue an estimate. Aon ranks a wildfire known as the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, in 2018 as the costliest in US history up to now at USD 12.5 billion, adjusted for inflation. The Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed about 11,000 homes.
The LA County wildfires, which were fuelled by hurricane-force Santa Ana winds and an extreme drought, remained largely uncontained Saturday. That means the final tally of losses from the blazes is likely to increase, perhaps substantially.
“To put this into perspective, the total damage and economic loss from this wildfire disaster could reach nearly 4 per cent of the annual GDP of the state of California,” AccuWeather's Porter said.
In a report Friday, Moody's also concluded that the wildfires would prove to be the costliest in US history, specifically because they have ripped through densely populated areas with higher-end properties.
While the state is no stranger to major wildfires, they have generally been concentrated in inland areas that are not densely populated. That's led to less destruction per acre, and in damage to less expensive homes, Moody's noted.
That's far from the case this time, with one of the largest conflagrations destroying thousands of properties across the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, home to many Hollywood stars and executives with multimillion-dollar properties. Already, numerous celebrities have lost homes to the fires.
“The scale and intensity of the blazes, combined with their geographic footprint, suggest a staggering price tag, both in terms of the human cost and the economic toll,” Moody's analysts wrote. The report did not include a preliminary cost estimate of the wildfire damage.
It could be several months before a concrete tally of the financial losses from the wildfires will be possible.
“We're in the very early stages of this disaster,” Porter said.
