Poll preparations for multiple Bengaluru Corporations within 4 months: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar
Mysuru, May 16 (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday said with the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act having come into effect, preparations will be made for polls to multiple municipal corporations to be created to manage the city within four months.
Shivakumar, who is also in charge of Bengaluru Development, said a process will be initiated soon regarding the reservation list and the creation of multiple municipal corporations.
The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act allows for the creation of up to seven municipal corporations to manage the city, and there are indications that the government may decide to form three corporations.
The city has not had an elected municipal council since September 2020.
“We will initiate the process regarding the reservation list and division (of the city into multiple corporations) soon. We have to hold elections; there is no point in delaying them. We will make the necessary arrangements within four months,” Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said he will call an all-party meeting soon to seek suggestions on how to proceed with the division into multiple corporations.
“Taking everyone into confidence, we will move ahead, but it has been decided to hold elections as early as possible. We have to do it; there is no point in delaying. There was a plan to add new areas (to Greater Bengaluru), but that process would cause a delay, so we can add them later. Therefore, the notification has been issued with the area currently under the BBMP,” he added.
The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, came into effect on May 15, and the new Greater Bengaluru Area will be limited to the area now covered by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), according to the notification.
However, all functionaries will continue to have the same powers and duties as conferred under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Act, 2020, until the new law is fully implemented.
Until multiple corporations are created, the BBMP will continue to operate under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which is expected to be constituted soon, official sources said.
The Act provides 120 days to establish the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA).
The Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, which was recently passed by both houses of the state legislature despite opposition from the BJP, proposes restructuring the BBMP by splitting it into a maximum of seven city corporations within the Greater Bengaluru Area.
It also provides for the constitution of a Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) for coordination and supervision and sets 30-month terms for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
The GBA will be headed by the Chief Minister as the ex-officio chairperson, while the minister in charge of Bengaluru development will be the ex-officio vice-chairperson.
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Cash discovery row: SC grills Justice Yashwant Varma over his petition
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday questioned Justice Yashwant Varma over his plea to invalidate an in-house inquiry panel report indicting him over the discovery of huge cache of burnt cash from his official residence during his tenure as a Delhi High Court judge.
"Why did you appear before the inquiry committee? Did you come to the court that the video be removed? Why did you wait for the inquiry to be completed and the report be released? Did you take a chance of a favourable order there first," a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A G Masih asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was representing Justice Varma.
The top court further quizzed Justice Varma over the parties he had made in his plea and said he should have filed the in-house inquiry report with his plea.
Sibal submitted there was a process under Article 124 (the Establishment and constitution of the Supreme Court), and a judge couldn't be a subject matter of public debate.
"The release of video on SC website, public furore, media accusations against judges are prohibited as per constitutional scheme," Sibal added.
The top court asked Sibal to come with one page bullet points and correct the memo of parties.
The matter was posted for July 30.
Justice Varma has sought quashing of the May 8 recommendation by then chief justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, urging Parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings against him.
His plea said the inquiry "reversed the burden of proof", requiring him to investigate and disprove the charges levelled against him.
Alleging that the panel's findings were based on a preconceived narrative, Justice Varma said the inquiry timelines were driven solely by the urge to conclude proceedings swiftly, even at the expense of "procedural fairness".
The petition contended that the inquiry panel drew adverse findings without affording him a full and fair hearing.
A report of the inquiry panel probing the incident had said Justice Varma and his family members had covert or active control over the store room where a huge cache of half-burnt cash was found following a fire incident, proving his misconduct which is serious enough to seek his removal.
The three-judge panel headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of the Punjab and Haryana High Court conducted the inquiry for 10 days, examined 55 witnesses and visited the scene of the accidental fire that started at around 11.35 pm on March 14 at the official residence of Justice Varma, then a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court and now in the Allahabad High Court.
Acting on the report, then CJI Khanna wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi recommending the judge's impeachment.
