During the hearing of a public interest litigation by Chandrakanth and others alleging misappropriation of funds, the division bench headed by Justice Gopalagowda gave a dressing down to the State Government when it found that the officials of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj were not present before the High Court.
When the government counsel said that the Principal Secretary was out of the country and the Secretary was in Gujarat, the bench said: “ We have been visiting the rural villages in the backward district to educate people about the MGNREGS. We have taken it up apart from our routine work. Why don’t the DCs and other officials do the same?”
Saying that the denying of employment to people is violation of human rights, the bench directed the officials to furnish details of expenditure on Friday and failing to do so the Court warned that it will direct Chief Secretary to initiate stern action against erring officials.
Published 17 February 2010, 18:15 IST