HC issues notice on petition against IB

BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Monday directed the State and Union Governments to file a counter affidavit within ten days in connection with a petition by R N Kulkarni, a former Joint Assistant Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), who joined the IB in 1963 and retired in 1998.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice H G Ramesh issued the order on the petition. Kulkarni had moved the HC claiming that the agency is functioning in an extraconstitutional manner. In his submission he had stated that post independence, the Parliament failed to enact a law for regulation, recruitment and obligation of the agency and it remained without any constitutional or statutory identity.The petitioner claimed, "The extraconstitutional status of Intelligence Bureau violates Article 21 of the Indian Constitution in that the right to life, liberty and safety of the nation's citizens stand prejudiced by an illegitimate agency."