Karnataka High Court upholds govt's decision to replace academy presidents

Mangalore, Jul 25: Karnataka High Court on Wednesday upheld the state government's decision to replace the chiefs of nearly 13 academies who had been appointed during BJP tenure.

Former Presidents of Beary Academy's Rahim Uchil, Yakshayana Bayalata Academy Prof M L Samaga and Lalitha Kala Academy's Chi Su Krishna Shetty had moved to the High Court stating that the present government has sacked them from the posts without any valid reason.

“We welcome the decision. The court has upheld that the government has the right to terminate the tenures,” said B.A. Mohammad Haneef, whose appointment as president had been cancelled by the Department of Kannada and Culture on June 20 after the matter went to court.

Though the government can now start the appointment process afresh, he said he was “expecting” a reappointment for a period of three years.

Since the previous academy president, Rahim Uchil, was forced to step down in June 2013 with the change of government, the academy had to wait for more than nine months for a new head to be appointed by the Congress-led government. And, 112 days after the appointment of Mr. Haneef as president late in February, it was cancelled. With Mr. Uchil and former heads of the Lalitha Kala and Yakshagana Bayalata Academies going to the High Court over their removal, the government feared court reproach for the appointment of a “disputed” position, said sources.

What this has meant to the Academy is that its functions have been severely curtailed, said Registrar Umarabba, who runs the academy during the transition.

“To arrange any programme or allot funds, I will need to go to Bangalore for approval,” he said.

Before the appointment of the new president, the academy had unused funds amounting to Rs. 35 lakh. Even projects which had been started then, such as the compilation of a Beary-Kannada-English dictionary and the production of a Beary music CD, have been put on hold. “We had sanctioned a documentary on Beary culture. This has stalled after only one payment could be made,” said Mr. Umarabba.

Among the other projects that have been affected are the plans to host a Global Beary convention; quarterly publication Belkiri (Enlightenment in English), which has 800 subscribers, has not come out in over a year, said the Registrar.