Voting begins for 4 legislative council seats in Karnataka
Bengaluru: Polling for four legislative council seats got underway in Karnataka on Wednesday amid the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
The MLC polls are taking place for Karnataka South-East Graduates, Karnataka West Graduates', Karnataka North-East Teachers' and Bangalore Teachers' constituencies, which fell vacant due to the retirement of R Chowda Reddy Thoopalli, S V Sankanur, Sharanappa Mattur, and Puttanna respectively.
The polling began at 8 am and would conclude at 5 pm.
The counting of votes will be held on November 2.
Forty candidates are trying their luck in the elections.
Among them are the four whose retirement on June 30 warranted the elections.
There are 2.35 lakh voters in these four constituencies.
Security has been beefed up at the polling stations.
Already prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed in and around the booths.
The Election Commission has directed the returning officers to ensure that face masks and social distancing should be maintained by the staff as well as the voters.
Following the guidelines, arrangements have been made for hand sanitizers and thermal screening at all the booths.
There are medical teams deployed around the polling centers as well.
The election is crucial for the BJP as it lacks a majority in the state Legislative Council to pass the crucial bills.
The BJP government could not pass the farm bills and labor reforms amendment bills in the recently held legislative session as it could not get through the upper house despite getting passed in the assembly.
In the council with a strength of 75 members, Congress has 28 members, BJP -- 27 members, Janata Dal (Secular) -- 14 members, one independent, one chairman, and four vacant seats.
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Legal heirs can claim reimbursement if govt employee dies during treatment: Allahabad HC
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Saturday said that if a government employee or pensioner dies during treatment or becomes incapable of making a claim, his legal heirs can also claim reimbursement of medical expenses.
The bench of Justice Alok Mathur and Justice Amitabh Kumar Rai passed the verdict on the petition of Chandra Choor Singh.
The petitioner's father was a retired deputy registrar. He was treated at private hospitals in Lucknow, where he passed away during treatment. The petitioner applied for reimbursement of medical expenses, but the department rejected the claim, stating that only the "beneficiary" can make a claim under the rules.
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The state government argued that under the Uttar Pradesh Government Servants (Medical Attendance) Rules, 2011, a claim can only be made by a beneficiary, and the petitioner did not fall within this category. It also cited the limit of Rs 5,000 set out in the succession certificate submitted by the petitioner.
The court rejected this argument of the state government, stating that the provisions of Rule 16 of the Rules, 2011, were arbitrary and violated Article 14 of the Constitution. The court held that if a beneficiary dies or becomes incapable of making a claim, his or her legal heirs cannot be deprived of this right.
Applying the principle of "reading down", the Court directed that Rule 16 be interpreted to include legal heirs, especially when there is no other eligible beneficiary.
The court also clarified that if there is no dispute about being an heir, it is not appropriate to reject the claim merely on technical grounds.
Ultimately, the court directed the concerned authority to reconsider the petitioner's claim and take a decision within two months, and if the claim is found to be correct, payment should be ensured within one month.
