The Hindu

• Commissioner has powers to order eviction of petty shops
• Mayor accused of overstepping his authority
• Mayor had no power to prevent the Commissioner from evicting petty shops

Mangalore, Jul 1: The Mangalore City Corporation Council meeting witnessed scenes of pandemonium here on Friday. The chaos was over the Mayor's intervention during the eviction drive of petty shops in the city.

Raising the issue during question hour, Opposition leader Shankar Bhat said Mayor K. Ashraf had overstepped his authority and had obstructed then Commissioner Chandrappa from carrying out his official duties. Citing the Karnataka Municipal Act, 1967, Mr. Bhat said the Act clearly stated that the Commissioner or any other official of the corporation or civic body had been vested with the powers to remove obstructions to roads, pavements or any other public place. The Act also stated that officials had absolute powers to carry out eviction drives of petty shops without bringing this to the notice of the council or Mayor. Mr. Bhat said that under such circumstances the Mayor had no power to prevent the Commissioner from evicting petty shops.

Congress members raised their voice against Mr. Bhat's statements.

They were opposed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members. The melee ensued for over half-an-hour.

Mr. Ashraf maintained that his actions were in good faith, as the city had not made alternative arrangement for those managing petty shops.

Mr. Bhat asked the Mayor if it was right on his part to break the laws. Former Mayors Shashidhar Hegde, K. Diwakar and Health Committee chairman Appi, senior members James D'Souza and Vishwanath participated in the debate.

Chaos broke out for the second time in the meeting when former Mayor Hilda Alva demanded that district in-charge Minister B. Nagaraj Shetty be admonished by the council for asking the Chief Minister to "reconsider" the reservation category for the Mayor's post in 2006-07. She said for the first time in ten years the Mayors post had been reserved for the general women category.