High Court of Karnataka
The Karnataka Highness has quashed the order of the state government to transfer Keshav Abayya, brother of Hubabballi-Dharwad East Prasad Abyya, to Karnataka Medical College and Research Institute The sciences (gims), gadag, on the basis of a letter transcribed by his mla-brother to Medical Education Minister Sharan prakash patil.
The court also canceled the appointment of Dr. Keshava as the Head of Dental Department (HoD) and also the seniority list which considered him as the senior most professor in the dental department.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while allowing a petition filed by Suneel G. Patil, who was a senior professor in KMCRI’s Department of Dentistry.
Blatant violation
“The permanent placement of Dr. Keshav as a professor at KMCRI is in flagrant violation of binding statutory guidelines and indelibly tainted by political influence cannot be legally sustained,” the court said.
While petitioner was legally entitled to a promotion, “importing an outsider into the only available position in the department effectively deprived petitioner of both his seniority, a legal right, and his legitimate consideration for promotion, a fundamental right,” the court noted, noting that sending a transfer to Dr. Keshava to KMCRI is against the norms of the institute as well as the National Medical Commission.
“The applicant, who had already completed the requisite qualifying service by the time the new post of Professor in the Department of Dentistry was created, was fully eligible and available for promotion. Yet it appears that Dr. Keshav, whose fraternal relationship with the sitting member of the legislature representing Hubballi, was brought into KMCRI through channels of influence, notwithstanding the persons concerned, the court observed. The court also noted that KMCRI is situated in a constituency represented by MLA-brother Dr. Keshava.
The court also stated that with Dr. Keshav could not be treated as the senior most professor in the department as his initial entry into KMCRI from GIMC was on his own voluntary request citing his mother’s ill health as the norms clearly state that those admitted to KCMRI from other institutes on voluntary request will have to be placed at the bottom of the seniority list.
Post creation
Meanwhile, the court also found that the government had created a professorship in the Department of Dentistry to accommodate Dr. Keshav, by asking KMCRI to cancel the post of professor in another department without the approval of NMC, but in fact no post of professor was cancelled.
While the government is empowered to create or abolish a post, it must exercise that power within the bounds of justice and not arbitrarily, as Article 14 of the Indian Constitution is a constitutional sentinel prohibiting capricious action or favoritism by the state, the court pointed out.
The court declared that the petitioner is entitled to all consequential benefits that would result from the cancellation of the transfer order of Dr. Keshava on KMCRI.
Published – 16 Dec 2025 20:45 IST
