State cannot keep Pollution Control Board Chairman post vacant beyond six months: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court recently said that the State government cannot assign the charge of the Chairman of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to its functionaries beyond six months, when there is a vacancy [Dr. Shanth. A. Thimmaiah V. The Government of Karnataka]..The Court emphasised that any vacancies in the post of the KSPCB must be expeditiously filled. To ensure this happens, a division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit also directed the State to reframe its latest guidelines on the selection and appointment of the KSPCB Chairman. “We emphasize that the ‘casual vacancy’, whatever be the reason for its accrual, in the office of the Chairman of KSPCB shall not be occupied by the (State government) functionaries mentioned in clauses 10 & 11 for a period beyond six months and therefore, the normative appointment by way of selection has to be made without brooking delay," the Court's order stated..The State's guidelines dated August 31, 2023 provided that the Additional Chief Secretary to the State government or the Principal Secretary of the Forest, Ecology and Environment Department could ex officio assume the charge of Chairman of the KSPCB in case of any vacancy till a regular appointment is made by the State..However, the Court observed that there was a wide discretion with the government to not fill the ‘casual vacancy’ and that too without assigning any reason.“Such a carte blanche is undesirable, to say the least, ‘reasoned decisions’ being the requirement of a Welfare State. Therefore, the term ‘without assigning any reason’ appearing in paragraph 11 cannot be sustained,” it added.The Court also said that that the phrase ‘for reasons to be recorded in writing’ must be added, so that reasons are assigned when it comes to delays in filling casual vacancies. .The Court was hearing a batch of eight petitions related to the process for appointment of the KSPCB Chairman. One of these petitions also challenged the appointment of the incumbent Chairman, Dr Shanth A Thimmaiah. Meanwhile, Dr. Thimmiah filed a petition as well challenging the Congress government's decision to cut short his tenure. The Court disposed of this batch petitions by a common order dated November 29..A challenge to guidelines issued in 2020 was rejected by the Court on the ground that a co-ordinate bench already had upheld them.However, the Court proceeded to also dismiss the petition against Dr. Thimmaiah’s appointment to the post of KSPCB Chairman.On the government’s decision to curtail Dr. Thimmaiah’s tenure with retrospective effect, the Court rejected the argument that he was appointed only to fill the ‘casual vacancy’ after the predecessor vacated the post.It also noted that the Search and Selection Committee comprised of high functionaries including the Chief Minister and Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment.“After due deliberation a short list containing seven names was prepared and the name of Petitioner figured at the top. Therefore, he came to be selected after assigning reasons,” the Court noted.Thus, the Court set aside the State decision and ordered that Dr. Thimmaiah will remain the KSPCB Chairman till November 14, 2024. However, the Court rejected another petition filed by Thimmaiah against an enquiry initiated against him under the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act for alleged lapses..Senior Advocate D R Ravishankar and Advocate Siri Rajashekar represented the petitioner Dr Shanth A Thimmaiah.Advocates X M Joseph, Aditya Narayan, Rajendra MS and Anasuya Devi KS represented other petitioners.Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty with Advocate Devaraj Ashok represented the State.Senior Advocate Vikram Huilgol with Advocate Mahesh A Chowdhary represented the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board..[Read Judgment]