Karnataka high court: Take action against Mylarappa

The high court on Monday directed the government to take appropriate action against BC Mylarappa, former director of distance education, Bangalore University (BU) on charges of plagiarism.

The division bench comprising chief justice JS Khehar and AS Boppanna also directed the government to initiate action based on the direction given by governor HR Bhardwaj to cancel the PhD awarded to Venkataramanappa, a student of Mylarappa, for indulging in plagiarism.

A public interest litigation (PIL) filed by L Vasudevamurthy, a former academic council member of BU came up before a division bench of the high court, on Monday.

The petitioner challenged the government’s order on June 4, 2008 annulling a syndicate resolution recommending a CID inquiry into the cases against Mylarappa, including one pertaining to the alleged misappropriation of funds in the directorate during his tenure. The syndicate had also suspended Mylarappa.

The bench directed the government to take a decision on the nature of action that has to be taken on Mylarappa within four weeks and Bangalore University to implement the recommendation after placing it in the Syndicate meeting within four weeks thereafter.

The petitioner had contended that Venkatramanappa also filed a petition claiming that Mylarappa being his guide was responsible for the alleged plagiarism on April 3, 2007.