No need to make illegal mining report public
Sidharth
in Express Buz, Express News Service 31 Dec 2008
BANGALORE: The High Court on Tuesday dismissed a public interest
litigation (PIL) seeking directions to the state government to make
public the Lokayukta report on illegal mining which was submitted to
the government on December 18.
The vacation judge bench comprising Justice K Bhakthavasala and
Justice K Srinivasa Gowda dismissed the petition on the ground that
there was no merit in it.
"The contention of the petition is not acceptable.
There is no law that could direct the government to publish a report
without studying it. It is the duty of the administration to decide
whether to make the report public or not," the court observed.
The court also observed that the petitioner had the liberty to
approach the government under the Right to Information Act to access
the report.
The petition was filed by city-based advocate S Vasudevan, questioning
the government's action of appointing a three-member committee of IAS
officers to oversee the Lokayukta report.
Vasudevan had submitted that as the Lokayukta had indicted 12 IAS
(Indian Administrative Service) officers in the report for abetting
the illegal mining, the committee could tamper with the report and
that further inquiry on the report was illegal.