Gandhi statue not place of worship: K’taka HC on PIL

Gandhi statue not place of worship: K’taka HC on PIL

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:08.09.2020

By no stretch of imagination can a statue of Mahatma Gandhi be called ‘a place of worship’, the Karnataka high court observed on Monday, turning down a PIL questioning the grant of licence to Tonique, a liquor boutique on MG Road.

Bengaluru-based advocate AV Amarnathan had filed the PIL, saying the liquor vend is 30 metres from the Gandhi statue. Stating that Rule 3(3) of under Karnataka Excise Licences (General Conditions) Rules, 1967, prohibits liquor vends near places of worship and similar places, he had said the Gandhi statue falls in that category as citizens visit his statue every year to pay respects to the father of the nation.

Rejecting the plea, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka said even Gandhi would not have reconciled to the thought of him being worshipped.

No material submitted to prove liquor vend within prohibited distance: HC

Though the petitioner orally mentioned about rule 5 (2)(a) of the said rules of 1967 wherein the authority can reject a licence if there is a likelihood of peace, tranquility and morality getting breached, the bench noted that though the rules provide for that, he had not pleaded it in his petition.

The court perused the report submitted by the local tahsildar, who undertook a spot inspection on July 23, following a July 9 order of the court. The inspection was carried out in the presence of the petitioner and representative of Tonique liquor vend. As per the tahsildar’s report, St Mark’s Cathedral is 144 metres from the vend and the deputy commissioner of police office 126.5 metres away — well beyond the 100-metre minimum distance prescribed for granting of licence.

The bench said the petitioner has not shown any material to indicate they are within the prohibited distance. The petitioner had sought withdrawal of the vend’s licence.

KPSC told to give info on visually impaired

Bengaluru:

The high court on Monday directed Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) to furnish information as to how many visually impaired candidates had appeared for the gazetted probationers preliminary exam held on August 24.

A division bench headed by chief justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka also sought details of visually impaired candidates who were provided with scribes and their qualifications.

Earlier, the petitioners’ counsel claimed though 20-minute grace time per hour was provided as per the court’s direction, the scribes provided were not conforming to guidelines issued by the Centre. TNN