In a major embarrassment for the Karnataka government, the state high court Tuesday quashed the appointment of former high court judge Chandrashekaraiah as the state’s upalokayukta or deputy ombudsman. Justices N. Kumar and H.S. Kempanna set aside the appointment on the ground that the chief justice of the high court was not consulted, a constitutional requirement in appointing the lokayukta and upalokayukta.
Mr Chandrashekaraiah, who was Karnataka high court judge between 1995 and 2004, took over as the second upalokayukta in January, the first major appointment by chief minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda. His appointment was challenged by two Bengaluru advocates, M. Anand and J.C. Krishna.
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Farmer stir: BJP activists block rail tracks in MP
Bhopal: BJP activists on Tuesday blocked railway tracks at Habibganj station here and in other major cities of Madhya Pradesh in support of the one-day agitation by the Kisan Morcha to demand higher procurement price for the farmers, reports our correspondent. The BJP protest in Bhopal was led by Kisan Morcha national general secretary and MLA Arvind Bhadoria, BJP state spokesman and MLA Vishwas Sarang and many state BJP office-bearers and legislators. Kisan Morcha state convenor Raghunandan Sharma led the protest at Sehore near Bhopal.
Leading the agitation at Indore was former Union minister and senior BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan.
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Maderna, malkhan are shifted to other jails
narayan bareth
jaipur, april 3
Prison authorities in Jodhpur have finalised the process to shift sacked minister Mahipal Maderna and suspended Congress MLA Malkhan Singh from Jodhpur to Jaipur and Ajmer jails, respectively. Both the legislators were arrested in the abduction and murder of nurse Bhanwari Devi following a CD showing Maderna in a compromising position with Bhanwari. The Rajasthan high court directed the authorities to shift both from Jodhpur to another jail in view of the CBI’s plea. According to jail officials, Maderna will be shifted to Jaipur Central Jail while Malkhan will be shifted to Ajmer Central Jail. The CBI requested the court to order the shifting as the witnesses were getting threats.
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Maya Finalises names for Lok Sabha Polls
age correspondent
Lucknow, april 3
Though elections to the Lok Sabha are still two years away, Ms Mayawati has already finalised about 35 candidates for the polls and has even announced names of six Lok Sabha candidates. BSP MP Munqad Ali, who is considered one of her close associates, declared six names in Amroha on Tuesday. Those whose candidatures have been cleared include candidates from Nagina, Amroha, Bijnore, Meerut, Moradabad and Sambhal. According to Mr Ali, former MLA Farhat Hasan will contest from Amroha, Maluk Nagar from Bijnore, Lakhan Singh Saini from Moradabad, Girish Chandra from Nagina, Haji Shahid Akhlaq from Meerut seat and Shafiqur-rehman-Warq will seek re-election from Sambhal seat.