The High Court of Karnataka has ordered further investigation in a criminal case to find out how did the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department (RDPR) or any other authorities of the government permit connecting an underground drainage system (UGD) from a residential layout to storm-water drains in Anekal of Bengaluru Urban district.
The court said that further investigation has to be conducted by an officer not below the rank of a Deputy Commissioner of Police to be nominated by the Director-General and Inspector-General of Police, and all the departments, including the Revenue Department, the Land Records and Survey Settlement Department, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, the Lake Development Authority, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike etc., should cooperate with the investigation.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the interim order on a petition filed by the office-bearers of the Shantipura Residents’ Welfare Association. The petitioners have questioned the legality of the registration of criminal case against them by the tahsildar of Anekal taluk in 2016 for connecting the sewage lines of Vinayaka layout to the SWD leading to a lake.
