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‘‘Do not appoint election losers to public posts’’
In Short
The court directed the State Government to frame strict eligibility guidelines for appointing chairpersons to additional committees constituted to examine applications seeking regularisation of unauthorised land occupation under Rule 108-EE(1)(a) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Rules,
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Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has expressed strong displeasure over the State Government’s attempt to appoint candidates who lost elections to public positions through the backdoor, observing that political leaders should not be accommodated in government posts after electoral defeat.
The court directed the State Government to frame strict eligibility guidelines for appointing chairpersons to additional committees constituted to examine applications seeking regularisation of unauthorised land occupation under Rule 108-EE(1)(a) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Rules, 1966.A Division Bench comprising Justice DK Singh and Justice H. Shanti Bhushan issued the directions while partly allowing an appeal filed in 2026 by Gururaj Shetty Gantihole, MLA from Byndoor constituency in Udupi district.
The High Court also quashed the government notifications dated December 4 and December 26, 2023, issued for constituting an additional committee under Section 94-A(2-A) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964.
On November 2, 2023, Gantihole had been appointed chairman of a committee under Section 94-A(1) to dispose of 12,313 pending applications seeking regularisation of unauthorised land occupation. Subsequently, the State Government constituted an additional committee and attempted to appoint a candidate who had lost the 2023 Assembly elections as its chairman.
Challenging the order of the single-judge bench, the MLA approached the Division Bench. The High Court said appointments to such important public positions should be based on clearly defined qualifications rather than political considerations. It directed the government to prescribe legal knowledge, administrative competence, experience in revenue matters, integrity and impartial conduct as essential criteria for the post of chairman of the additional committee.
The Bench expressed strong reservations about the government’s decision to issue a notification facilitating the appointment of an election loser to head an important revenue committee through the backdoor.
