IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 27TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2019 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE KRISHNA S.DIXIT WRIT PETITION NO.24048 OF 2018 (S-RES) BETWEEN:
N.S.GOVINDAIAH, S/O SIDDA NARASAYYA, AGED ABOUT 73 YEARS RESIDING AT NO.430, 8TH A MAIN ROAD, 1ST BLOCK, KALYANANAGAR, H.R.B.R. LAYOUT, BENGALURU - 560043 ... PETITIONER (BY SRI. C.H.JADHAV, SENIOR COUNSEL FOR SMT.RASHMI JADHAV, ADVOCATE) AND:
1 . THE STATE OF KARNATAKA, REPRESENTED BY SECRETARY, PRIMARY & HIGHER EDUCATION, M.S.BUILDING, BENGALURU – 560 001.
2 . THE DIRECTOR, PRE-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, PALACE ROAD, BENGALURU – 560 001.
3 . THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, PRE-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, MALLESHWARAM, BENGALURU – 560 003.
4 . THE ACCOUNTS OFFICER, ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT, PRE-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, BENGALURU – 560 001.
5 . SMT. H.S.RAJESHWARI, W/O LATE HARISH KISHORE N.G., SECOND DIVISON ASSISTANT, DDPI OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF PRE-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, SHIMOGGA CITY, DISTRICT SHIMOGGA – 577 201.
... RESPONDENTS (BY SRI. C.N.MAHADESHWARAN, AGA FOR R1 TO R4 SRI. MAHENDRA.N., ADVOCATE FOR R5) THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 & 227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO DIRECT THE RESPONDENTS HEREIN TO CONSIDER THE REPRESENTATIONS VIDE ANNEXURE-G, G1 & G2; AND ETC.
THIS WRIT PETITION COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING IN ‘B’ GROUP THIS DAY, THE COURT MADE THE FOLLOWING:
ORDER Petitioner has made the following prayers:
“i) issue a Writ of Mandamus directing to the Respondents herein to consider the representations vide ANNEXURE-G, G1 & G2, in the interest of justice and equity;
ii) issue an appropriate order or direction, directing the respondents No.2 & 3 to re-transfer the 5th respondent to Bengaluru, in the interest of justice and equity;
iii) issue a Writ, Order or direction directing Respondent No.5 to give visiting rights to the Petitioner as this Hon’ble Court deems fit;”
2. After service of notice, the respondent Nos.1 to 4 are represented by Sri.C.N.Mahadeshwaran, the learned AGA;
the 5th respondent Rajeshwari being the daughter-in-law of the petitioner is represented by her learned counsel Sri.Mahendra N, who has filed Statement of Objections resisting the Writ Petition.
3. The petitioner by a Memo dated 27.11.2019 having given up prayers Nos.1 & 2, has confined his case to prayer No.3. The Memo reads as under:
“The petitioner humbly submits that he will not press prayer No.1 and 2 as prayed in the Writ Petition and confining his prayer to prayer no.3. The same may kindly be placed on record and appropriate orders may kindly be passed as deemed fit, in the interest of justice.”
4. Having hearing the learned counsel for the parties and having perused the Petition Papers, this court grants a limited reprieve to the petitioner for the following reasons:
(a) petitioner’s 3rd prayer is a direction for exercising the visitation rights qua his grand-son master Chiranjivi Keshav, now approximately aged 9 years or so; the 5th respondent, the mother of this child in her Statement of Objections at para 8 has stated:
“it is also false that ……. respondent No.5 is not permitting the petitioner to meet his grand-son which resulted in mental agony. The respondent No.5 never objected against the petitioner meeting her son; even now, the petitioner meets his grand- son in Shimogga during school hours regularly for which respondent No.5 never objected. The respondent No.5 even now has no objection to petitioner meeting her son in Shimogga…”
(b) even during the course of hearing of this case, the learned counsel for the 5th respondent very fairly submitted that it is open to the petitioner to visit her residence in Shimogga to see the child and to interact with it during all reasonable times subject to the rider that his schooling and studies shall not be affected; this fair stand of the 5th respondent and her counsel is appreciated; and (c) there is force in the contention of the counsel for the 5th respondent that the said respondent being a widow and having a growing child would face enormous difficulty if she has to carry the child to the place of the petitioner; however, the said respondent shall facilitate the exercise of visitation rights of the petitioner.
In the above circumstances, this writ petition is disposed off permitting the petitioner to exercise his visitation rights qua the child by visiting the residence of the 5th respondent on second and fourth Sunday of every month after a prior intimation to the 5th respondent and subject to the rider that the schooling and studies of the child shall not be affected.
No costs.
Sd/- JUDGE DS