Chennai dental college HoD suspended over sexual harassment complaints
Under the circumstances, the order said it is necessary to place the professor under suspension from service under sub-rule (e)(1)(i) of Rule 17 of the Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, with immediate effect and until further orders, pending the framing of charges.
The HoD has also been instructed not to leave the headquarters in Chennai without obtaining prior permission from the concerned authority, the order further stated.
Meanwhile, sources said the State Women's Rights Commission conducted a two-hour inquiry on Friday with the college principal regarding the functioning of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and related matters.
On May 19, The New Indian Express was the first to report on the year-long delay in investigating the complaints. The Directorate of Medical Education and Research has since formed a three-member committee to investigate and submit a report within seven days.
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Indian Express
5 hours ago
- Indian Express
Karnataka Govt suspends senior IFS officer R Gokul over stand on forest land donated to HMT Ltd in Bengaluru
The Karnataka Government Wednesday suspended a senior Indian Forest Service officer, R Gokul, for allegedly facilitating the handover of forest land worth nearly Rs 14,000 crore, held by the public sector company Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) in Bengaluru, to third parties, including private entities. The government issued the suspension order stating that 'in exercise of the powers under Rule 3(1) (a) of the All India Service (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969, Sri R. Gokul, IFS, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Director General, EMPRI, Bengaluru, is placed under suspension with immediate effect, pending inquiry.' The reason for Gokul's suspension has been cited as his actions regarding the 'denotification of lands granted to HMT measuring 443 Acres 6 guntas situated at Peenya Jalahalli Plantation'. According to the government order, an interlocutory application was filed by forest officials before the Supreme Court in 2020 'without obtaining the approval of the then minister-in-charge or sanction from the state cabinet' for permission to denotify 443.6 acres of land granted to HMT at the Peenya Jalahalli Plantation. Initially, the state government issued notices to Sandeep Dave, a retired IAS officer and the former additional chief secretary for Forest, Ecology and Environment; Vijay Kumar Gogi, retired IFS officer and the former principal secretary for Forest, Ecology and Environment; Smitha Bijjur, IFS, ex-principal secretary, Forest, Ecology and Environment and Gokul. The government has reported receiving replies to the notices from three of the four officers (other than Sandeep Dave) but said that Gokul had written to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after receiving his notice 'seeking protection' in an illegal mining case from the 2010 period where he is a key witness against a mafia that was operated by political figures. The IFS officer also did not obtain permission or inform the government when he filed an 'Intervention Application (113311/2025) in the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India against IA (190307/2024 WP (C) 337/1995) filed by the State Government in the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India for withdrawal of the IA (60477/2020 in WP (C) 337/1995) related to the de-notification of lands belonging to HMT Ltd,' said the suspension order. The government order said the conduct of Gokul 'is in violation of Rule 17 of All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, and the State Government is prima facie satisfied that it is necessary' to place him under suspension with immediate effect. Last week, Karnataka Minister for Forest and Environment Eshwar Khandre announced that the government had recommended action against two serving IFS officers, one retired IFS officer, and one retired IAS officer for filing of an application in the Supreme Court 'seeking permission for denotification of HMT forest land worth over Rs. 14,000 crore'. 'This plantation is owned by HMT. It is illegal for the organisation to sell to government departments/organisations and private individuals. However, the fact that forest officials did not make any attempt to recover the land and, without even drawing the attention of the Cabinet, submitted an Interim Application (IA) to the Supreme Court seeking denotification in 2020 is a cause for doubt,' Khandre has said. The controversy pertains to 599 acres of land in a plantation in the Peenya Jalahalli region in North Bengaluru, which was declared a forest in 1896 and was later transferred to HMT in the 1960s to create industrial infrastructure through a donation deed by the district collector. In recent years, large portions of the land given to HMT by the forest department for industrial purposes have been used to facilitate major real estate projects through the connivance of state and central government officials. Over the last year, a dispute arose over the land between the Union Heavy Industries Ministry headed by H D Kumaraswamy, who is looking at monetising the land to resuscitate the fortunes of HMT, and the state forest department, which is trying to recover the HMT land by arguing that it remains a forest land. In November last year, the Karnataka Government issued notices to the forest officials concerned over the filing of the IA in the SC on the HMT forest land. In January this year, the state government ordered that since 281 acres of the 599 acres of land donated to HMT is vacant land 'without any building,' the forest department must take possession of the vacant forest land. Over 200 acres of the HMT land in Bengaluru have been handed over to private players and others, even as HMT Ltd has collapsed in the last four decades. One of the major transfers of land happened between 1999 and 2004 when the Congress was in power, leading to the construction of apartment complexes by some of the big real estate developers of Bengaluru.
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Time of India
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The Hindu
17 hours ago
- The Hindu
Contradictory for welfare government to establish more hospitals on and simultaneously open TASMAC liquor shops, says HC
It is contradictory for a welfare government to establish more hospitals on the one hand and simultaneously establish Tasmac liquor shops on the other hand. This is not in consonance with Constitutional ethos, observed the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court while directing the closure of a Tasmac shop in Dindigul. A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and A.D. Maria Clete said when Right to Health is a fundamental right, the State must ensure that the prohibition is slowly implemented in a phased manner to reduce harm to public health. The court was hearing the public interest litigation petition filed by K. Kannan of Dindigul. The petitioner sought a direction to the authorities to close a Tasmac shop located on Tiruchi road in Dindigul. He said the road was used by school children. The children and other road users were finding it difficult to use the road freely and peacefully, he said. In the counter affidavit, Dindigul District Tasmac Manager submitted that the claim the liquor shop was located close to school, health and religious institutions was incorrect. The shop was located within Corporation limits, where the prohibited distance was 50 meters as per Rule 8 of Tamil Nadu Liquor Retail Vending (in Shops and Bars) Rules, 2003. Since the Tasmac shop was situated in a commercial area, the proviso to Rule 8 of the Rules states that the distance restriction shall not apply. The court said it was of the considered view that mere guidelines and rules fixing certain distances cannot be the sole criterion. In the present case, the road was used by children to reach their school and it served as a direct pathway. Consequently, the Tasmac shop would undoubtedly cause public nuisance to the road users, children attending the school and persons going to the Church. The judges said, the rules setting minimum distances are regulatory thresholds, but they do not exhaust all public health and welfare concerns. Mere compliance with the distance rule does not validate a location if the broader environment is harmful. Undoubtedly, a Tasmac shop may cause nuisance to the road users in the locality, particularly, to the children during school hours. It is the duty of the State to ensure that no such nuisance is caused to the citizens and road users. Besides, Article 47 of the Constitution directs that the State shall regard raising the level of nutrition and standard of living of its people and improvement of public health as among its primary duties and in particular the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medical purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health. It is a Constitutional philosophy and the Directive principles insist that a welfare government should strive wholeheartedly to enforce prohibition, rather than establish more Tasmac shops which adversely affect public health. Closure of one Tasmac shop would not cause any prejudice but would rather benefit the public at large, the court observed and directed the authorities to close the Tasmac shop in two weeks. The judges posted the matter for reporting compliance on June 18.
