‘God alone knows...,’ says Chief Justice of Karnataka govt’s false affidavits

Taking up a contempt case suo motu against senior bureaucrats, the high court on Monday issued notices to deputy law officer in the directorate of municipal administration, M Mahadevaswamy, and under secretary to government, municipal administration, CR Ravindra.

Another official, Thusharmani, has also been hauled up in the case, for filing a false affidavit.The affidavit in question related to public interest litigation in the high court, requesting that the government eradicate scavenging and carrying of night soil.

Deputy law officer Mahadevaswamy and CR Ravindra, under secretary, filed an affidavit stating that 296 Bangi families had been rehabilitated by the Dr Ambedkar Development Corporation.

This was the claim made in a letter to the government submitted by the under secretary in the department of urban development on May 10, 2010.

Pulling up the officials, the bench observed that the affidavit had been filed on the basis of a survey done in 2006. There were no reports in the media of any developments with regard to rehabilitation after 2007.

Commenting on the laxity of officials, Chief Justice JS Khehar said, “God knows how many false affidavits the state government has filed, and how many wrong orders we have passed because of false affidavits.” He added that nowhere else in the country had he come across such laxity.

The court has granted the officials two weeks to file another affidavit about whether or not the first affidavit is true.