Though DK District in-charge Minister and State Minister for Fisheries and Ports J
Krishna Palemar, during Friday’s assembly session has defended his action of writing
to the chief secretary of the government to suspend Karwar’s DCF Gokul who had
abstained from a meeting of ore company representatives and officials which he had
convened, he has not answered the question if he had suspended any officer of his own
department who had abetted in the export of the five lakh tonnes of seized ore at the
Belekeri port. Even Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde had raised a similar question
which has remained unanswered until now.
Neither Palemar is the in-charge minister of Uttara Karnataka, nor Gokul an officer
under his Ports Department. Gokul is a forest department officer and Palemar has no
right to recommend his suspension. At the most, he could have brought the matter to the
notice of the Forest Minister. However, in this case Palemar has clearly overstepped his
authority.
Palemar even questioned the Members of the House by saying “What would you have
done if an officer had showed disrespect by not attending a meeting convened by an
elected representative?,†but missed his target. The reason is simple. Is there any rule
that an officer, that too an officer not related to the department of the minister, should
attend a meeting convened by the minister ? Firstly, the officer might have some strong
reasons for abstaining from the meeting, or he might have honestly felt that his attending
the meeting would not serve any purpose. Has Palemar ever tried to know why Gokul
had not attended the meeting ?
The Minister has tried to justify himself by saying his recommending disciplinary action
against Gokul does not mean that he had gone against the Lokayukta. Palemar was fully
aware that the ore was seized by Gokul at the instructions of the Lokayukta Therefore,
the Minster could not expect any explanation from the officer. At the most, he could have
questioned the forest department or the Lokayukta. The mine lord Reddys and the local
shipping agencies who were shocked by the seizing of the ore, has avenged the DCF
through the minister. It is an unpardonable offence on the part of Palemar by dancing to
the tunes of these people. Palemar who questioned in the Assembly as to what wrong he
had committed, should at least now get an answer to his question.
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