Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday ordered an investigation against Deputy Commissioner Richard Vincent D’souza of Kodagu district for allegedly signing two sets of orders on an appeal related to a dispute over entries made in the revenue records of a piece of land belonging to two brothers from Virajpet.
While in one order, containing four pages, D’souza had put his short-signature on the first three pages and full signature on the last page, in the second order, all the four pages contain D’souza’s full signature.
Interestingly, one set of the order was sent to the litigants by post, and the other was provided as certified copies in the office of the DC. Both the orders bear the same date, May 29, 2017, and same appeal number.
The issue came to the notice of the court when one of the brothers, B.R. Mohammed Shoib, filed a petition before High Court questioning the orders passed by the DC.
Justice Vineet Kothari, in his interim order, has directed the Registrar Vigilance of the High Court to ensure registration of a FIR through the jurisdictional judicial authorities in Kodagu district.
