Expressing displeasure over the stand taken by the State Government on postponing opening of several offices in the newly created 50 taluks across Karnataka, the High Court of Karnataka has directed the Government to ensure functioning of all the offices in these taluks so that the public is not put to any inconvenience.
“We are not satisfied with the stand taken by the State Government,” the court said while directing the Government to file better affidavit indicating therein that all the offices at taluk level in the newly created taluks are functional and the officers required in those offices are performing their work without any hindrance.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum issued the directions while hearing a PIL petition filed in 2019 by one Gurunath Vadde of Bidar complaining about failure of the Government to establish various offices of the Government for the benefit of public in these taluks.
The Government, in response to the court’s March 2020 direction to indicate outer limit to establish offices in 50 new taluks, on November 23 stated that the offices of tahasildar and taluk panchayat were functioning in these taluks but opening of other taluk-level offices had been postponed for administrative reasons for the time being as suggested by the Finance Department.
The Government has also said that there was financial constraint to establish other offices in these taluks at present.
The Secretary of the Revenue Department will have to appear in person if the Government fails to file a better affidavit by February 1, 2022 on making the offices functional.
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