Mangaluru
The Karnataka High Court has ordered the closure of shops selling fruits, gold and silver ornaments and pooja items of Adi Subramanya Temple in Kukke Sri Subramanya. These shops were taken through auction by Gurupada, Vijaykumar and Karthik respectively for a period of one year. Though the term of the contract expired in April last year, the re-auction process could not be done due to the model code of conduct for the elections. So the said contractors were doing business illegally without clearing the shops. Meanwhile, the contractors had requested the Government to continue the shops for the next four years. The Secretary to the Government had issued an order rejecting the applications of the contractors by giving a remarks that the lease period could not be continued as the master plan works were going on. However, the contractor had challenged the said order in the High Court and sought a stay on the order. Meanwhile, Harish Injadi, a Gram Panchayat member of Subramanya and President of the Congress village committee, had filed a public interest litigation in the Court seeking a direction to the government to run said shops as per rules. Disposing of the case in just a fortnight, the Court refused to stay the Contractor’s application and directed the Government to immediately vacate the shops and re-conduct the auction process. The Court also imposed a fine of 10 per cent on the rent for three-and-a-half months for unauthorised business.
