Man mistakenly arrested in Karnataka compensated with Rs 5 lakh
Bengaluru, Aug 1: A 56-year-old man has been compensated with Rs 5 lakh for having been wrongfully arrested in a criminal case, due to a confusion over his name.
Ningaraju N, a resident of Kalidasa Layout here, had approached the High Court claiming that in the criminal case filed in 2011, the alleged accused Raju NGN was not him.
Quashing the case against him, the HC said, It is rather shocking that a person has been arrested without ascertaining whether he was the person who was required to be arrested and that the warrant had been issued against him.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj in his judgment dated July 7 noted that, his identification was not cross-checked and verified, resulting (in) an innocent person being arrested.
The HC said that the Right of Life and Liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution is paramount and there is a violation of the fundamental right in this case.
The court said the state was liable to compensate the arrestee for having put him through loss of liberty as also loss of reputation. The compensation was fixed at Rs 5 lakh which the court said was payable within eight weeks.
Ningaraju was arrested because the name of his father (Ningegowda) was similar to the name of the person named in the warrant.
I'm unable to comprehend as to how the name of the father being similar or even identical would have any role to play in the arrest, extrapolating the same logic if the arrest warrant has been issued for one brother, another brother or maybe even the sister could be arrested, merely, because the father name is identical.
Ningaraju was arrested on the wrong assumption that he was the ex-director of the Ms India Holiday (Pvt) Ltd, which was under liquidation.
Further, to prevent such incidents in the future the High Court directed that if Guidelines or Standard Operating Procedure are already issued to cater to this situation, training in this regard to be provided to all arresting officers.
If such a SOP is not already in place, the Director General of Police was directed to issue the guidelines as to what steps to be taken by the arresting officer before arresting a person including the verification of identity. This was directed to be issued within four weeks.
The HC will hear the matter again on September 1 to assess the compliance of the directions.
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Nearly 700 km of Karnataka rivers polluted; cities, towns depend on contaminated water
Shivamogga: A total of 693.75 of river stretches across Karnataka are polluted, and water from several of these rivers is being supplied to towns and cities, the State government informed the Legislative Assembly.
According to a report published by The New Indian Express on Monday, replying to an unstarred question by Thirthahalli MLA Araga Jnanendra during the winter session in Belagavi, Forest, Environment and Biodiversity Minister Eshwar Khandre said rivers are classified into five categories, P1 to P5, based on Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels, with P1 being the most polluted.
He reportedly said untreated domestic wastewater from urban and rural areas is the main reason for river pollution. Arkavati, Lakshana Teertha, Tungabhadra, Bhadra, Tunga, Cauvery, Kabini, Kagina, Krishna, Shimsha, Bheema and Netravati are the polluted rivers and so far, 112 polluted drainages along these rivers have been identified.
Khandre explained that rivers are classified into five pollution categories P1 to P5. The Arkavati River has been placed in the P1 category, while no rivers fall under P2 and P3. Tungabhadra, Bhadra and Shimsha are categorised under P4, and eight other rivers fall under P5.
Khandre allegedly said domestic wastewater from municipalities, towns and villages along riverbeds is being discharged into at least 17 rivers, identified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). This is the primary cause of river pollution.
According to the report, the minister said drinking water is being supplied from polluted rivers in districts such as Mandya, Ramanagara, Vijayapura and Shivamogga. In parts of Uttara Kannada, Ballari, Vijayanagara and Bagalkot, local bodies are also drawing water from polluted river sources.
In 2022-23, CPCB identified South Pinakini, Aghanashini, Sharavathi and Gangavali rivers too as polluted. But wrote to CPCB, stating that these rivers are not polluted and sought their removal from the list. An action plan is being prepared for the South Pinakini River, he said.
On remedial measures, Khandre reportedly said the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board is setting up sewage treatment plants as per the directions of National Green Tribunal.
As per the report, under 12 river rejuvenation plans, the state generates 817.31 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage. While 41 STPs with a capacity of 614.1 MLD are operational, 203.21 MLD of sewage remains untreated.
Work is underway to establish 19 STPs with a capacity of 248.91 MLD, while 39 more STPs with a combined capacity of 357.92 MLD are in the planning stage. Progress is being monitored and reported regularly to the NGT and the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The minister reportedly said the state government gave its approval for underground drainage works worth Rs 535.56 crore in 2021 for 24 cities/towns besides Rs 523.80 crore for nine UGD projects.
