BANGALORE CITY CORPORATION Vs. SHANKARAPPA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This case illustrates how a common man can be harassed and ruined by the functionaries of statutory body such as City Corporation.

(2.) It aptly reflects what is observed in Lucknow Development Authority v. M.K. Gupta, III (1993) CPJ 7 (SC)=(1994) 1 SCC 243, by the Apex Court: An ordinary citizen or a common man is hardly equipped to match the might of the State or its instrumentalities..........A public functionary if acts maliciously or oppressively and the exercise of power results in harassment and agony then it is not an exercise of power but its abuse........... Harassment of a common man by public authorities is socially abhorring and legally impermissible. It may harm him personally but the injury to society is far more grievous. Crime and corruption thrive and prosper in the society due to lack of public resistance. Nothing is more damaging than the feeling of helplessness. An ordinary citizen instead of complaining and fighting succumbs to the pressure of undesirable functioning in offices instead of standing against it.

(3.) However, this case reveals that the complainants stood firm against the arbitrary and corrupt exercise of power by the officers of the City Corporation for oblique reasons, and approached various authorities including the High Court for redressal of their grievance. Facts: