NIT-K director gets second notice

NIT-K director gets second notice

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Apr 15, 2014: The Returning Officer for Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency A.B. Ibrahim has served second notice to the director of the National Institute of Technology – Karnataka (NIT-K) at Surathkal, asking him why he should not recommend the Election Commission of India to take legal action against the director, for giving a vague reply in connection with allowing BJP leaders to campaign in the premises of the institute on April 1.

The second notice was served on April 11, the Additional Returning Officer and the Additional Deputy Commissioner B. Sadashiva Prabhu told presspersons on Monday.

Violation

At the same time the flying squad of the commission has filed a complaint of violating model code of conduct against BJP leaders Nalin Kumar Kateel, H.N. Ananth Kumar, J. Krishna Palemar, N. Yogish Bhat and Rajani Dugganna for campaigning in the premises of the institute on April 1 without permission. The complaint was registered at Surathkal police station on April 11, he said.

To a question Mr. Prabhu said that Mr. Kumar has not replied to the notice served to him earlier.

Vague reply

Mr. Prabhu said that in the second notice served to the director the Returning Officer said that the reply given by the director to the first notice was not satisfactory and vague.

The director did not clarify whether the BJP leaders campaigned in the premises or not and whether its security personnel were aware of it.

The fact that the director was not aware of the activities taking place in the premises of the institute was a “cause of concern” considering that the government institute was of national repute, said Mr. Prabhu.

District Magistrate and Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada A. B. Ibrahim has issued an order saying that legal action will be taken against those employers if they did not allow their employees to vote on April 17. The order was issued on Monday. The government has declared April 17 as a paid holiday to enable all to vote. It applied to both the organised and unorganised sector, according to the Additional Deputy Commissioner B. Sadashiva Prabhu.