Orders presence of chief secretary in next hearing

Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jul 10: The state high court (HC), taking serious note of the sufferings the wife of a soldier, who had lost his life due to bomb blast during the operation against forest brigand, Veerappan, is undergoing at the hands of government officials, ordered the state chief secretary (CS) to be personally present during the next hearing to clarify the stand of the government.

After Chinnappa, a soldier, lost his life in the operation against Veerappan, Chinnappa's wife, Bhojamma, was given cooking gas agency on compassionate grounds. She started to operate the agency by the name, Sridhar Enterprises, within Saligrama town panchayat in the district. This agency has a base of 12,000 consumers.

In 2013, Bhojamma constructed a godown within Saligrama town panchayat limits for storage of LPG cylinders. The district deputy commissioner, as well as the chief officer of Saligrama town panchayat took the stand that the godown is located in a residential area and accidental fire can therefore give rise to catastrophe. On this ground, they refused to issue necessary licence. Bhojamma had approached the high court questioning this denial.

The HC expressed strong resentment at the functioning style of government departments. 'You have failed to secure the life of a woman, who happens to be the widow of a slain soldier. We need soldiers to loose lives for us, but the issue of giving a secure future to the relatives of such soldiers is of least concern for you. Where does a widow go to get justice?' it questioned.

Justice Raghavendra S Chavan ordered that the chief secretary to the government himself has to be present personally at the next hearing on Monday to provide clarification on the issue.