The Karnataka High Court has issued an interim stay on a November 2024 order by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions that barred Justice P N Desai, who had retired from the court, from taking up government appointments for three years.
Justice Desai was appointed by the state government as the one-man commission of inquiry to investigate the alleged MUDA land scam in July last year.
Senior advocate Udaya Holla, representing Justice Desai, argued that the retired judge had made a communication on August 14, 2024, to the effect that he thanked the government for his appointment as a member of the Central Administrative Tribunal but he could not take up the role as he had already accepted the assignment of the Karnataka government.
Holla argued that the consent of the selected candidates was required before proposals were sent to the secretariat of the appointment committee. If appointed candidates did not join their posting for thirty days, the procedure is to send a 15-day notice informing of possible debarment, it was further argued.
On Tuesday, a bench of Justice R Devdas issued an interim stay on the Union ministry’s order until the next date of hearing in the matter, February 6.
The court’s interim order said, “Learned Senior Counsel submits that neither the petitioner was informed of his selection nor was a notice issued to the petitioner before passing the impugned order of debarment. Moreover, it is submitted that some of the newspapers are carrying the information that the petitioner has been debarred from further appointment as a judicial member of the Central Administrative Tribunal.”
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