Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and deputy CM DK Shivakumar.

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka on Friday quashed a case against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar in relation to violation of Covid-19 restrictions, during the Mekedatu Padayatra in January 2022, when they were in opposition.

The case against the two Congress leaders and several others was filed under the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act and the IPC, which was challenged before the HC.

Justice M Nagaprasanna noted that the state government had not issued any notification under the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act barring padayatra and such activities.

The HC also quashed four other proceedings against Shivakumar — who is also the state Congress chief — that were initiated against him under the same Epidemic Diseases Act.

“The notification which the State relies upon is the one issued under the Disaster Management Act and not under the Epidemic Diseases Act. Therefore unless notification under Epidemic Diseases Act is issued barring such activities, taking recourse to the Disaster Management Act and bringing it into Epidemic Diseases Act is unavailable,” the HC said in its order quashing the case.

The complaint against Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar along with eleven others was filed by the tahsildar of Ramanagara on January 12, 2022. It was alleged that they had violated the Government orders and went ahead with the padayatra without permission.

A local magistrate had taken cognizance of the crime and initiated proceedings.

The Congress, then in opposition, had staged a padayatra demanding the implementation of the Mekedatu reservoir project across the Cauvery river, near Kanakapura in the Ramanagara district.

Quashing the case, the HC said, “The registration of the case and the filing of the charge sheet by the police for violation of Epidemic Diseases Act is rendered unsustainable. All other offences alleged under IPC are offshoots of Section 5 of the Epidemic Diseases Act. That having been rendered unsustainable, all other offences would also follow suit.”

BENGALURU: BJP on Friday slammed the Congress government for reversing the policies of the previous government and accused it of trying to turn Karnataka into a “mini-Pakistan.”Former minister and BJP MLA R Ashoka told reporters that BJP will not allow Congress to misuse the mandate given by people. Questioning the state government’s decision to undo the amendments to the Anti-Conversion Law, he asked what is wrong with the policy to prevent forcible conversions and allow conversions as 
per law. Congress goes to any extent for vote bank politics and its government is making changes in the law to appease a particular community, he alleged.

He said the BJP government had amended the APMC Act to allow farmers to sell their produce in any part of the country and not just at APMC yards, but now the Congress government is undoing those changes to help middlemen.

The government has failed to implement its pre-poll guarantees and there is talk of industries moving to other states because of power tariff hikes, he said.

On the state government’s allegations against the Centre for not providing rice for Anna Bhagya scheme, Ashoka asked whether they think “the Centre is like their in-laws’ place to provide whatever they ask. Tomorrow, if they want to sell Karnataka, can the Centre agree to it?”

The state government requires over Rs 1,10,000 crore to implement all its guarantees and that will push the state to bankruptcy. He said BJP leaders will hold a meeting to discuss their planned protest against the decisions of the state government on June 20. 

BENGALURU:  Following the launch of Shakti scheme, the number of women taking BMTC buses soared manifold. The scheme is advantageous for women as it offers free travel, but according to urban mobility experts, the overall ridership too has increased, including men who have to pay for their commute.

The experts felt that there might be two kinds of shifts after the launch of Shakti scheme — one is women, who were using other modes of transport like private buses and autos, shifted to BMTC due to the fare advantage and the second is that those who were either walking to their destinations, or not commuting, have opted to use the public transport. One more reason they attribute to the high ridership is the euphoria around the launch of any free government scheme.

While the average daily ridership of BMTC is 27.34 lakh, the data shared by the transport utility shows that the total ridership was 34.94 lakh (17.57 lakh women passengers) on June 12; 40.17 lakh (20.57 lakh women) on June 13; 33.44 lakh (16.85 lakh) on June 14, and 33.28 lakh (17.67 lakh) on June 15, indicating that the number of men passengers has gone up. 

Shaheen Shasa of Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike said, “The jump in the number of women passengers in BMTC is significant with 17 lakh on June 12 and 20 lakh on June 13. On June 14, it might have dropped to 16.85 lakh, but it is close to the numbers recorded on June 12. We will have to wait and see where things settle in around 10 days.” 

“Commuters who were using other modes of transport are shifting to BMTC due to fare advantage and those who were walking have also started using buses,” she said. 

Mobility expert Shreya Gadepalli attributed the sudden jump in the ridership of BMTC due to the euphoria around the launch of any scheme, and said, “We should look at the data once things settle down.”
“I think we should allow a few months’ data to come in before doing any assessment and making any judgements,” Gadepalli said.

A BMTC official said all these years they did not have any gender-wise data and added that it is too early to predict any trends as the Shakti scheme has just been rolled out.

Bengaluru: In a tragic incident reported at the Pulakeshinagar police station, a man stabbed his elder brother to death with a knife following a heated argument. The motive behind the shocking act was attributed to the victim’s alleged habit of creating noise at home after consuming alcohol.

The deceased has been identified as Karthik (30), a resident of Doddagunte. Following the crime, the Pulikeshinagar police successfully apprehended the brother of the deceased, Vijay, who had fled the scene after committing the act.

According to the police, Vijay had been summoned to his brother’s house by his sister-in-law. An argument ensued between the two brothers, and the situation quickly escalated, culminating in the tragic murder.

Karthik resided in Doddagunte with his wife, Sandhya, while Vijay lived separately. Both brothers were engaged in various small jobs to make ends meet. However, Karthik’s excessive drinking and subsequent disturbance at home had led to growing resentment, particularly between him and his wife.

Unable to endure her husband’s angry outbursts any longer, Sandhya contacted Vijay and requested his assistance in addressing the issue. Vijay obliged and went to his elder brother’s residence. The police revealed that a heated altercation broke out between the brothers, tragically resulting in Karthik’s murder.

The Pulakeshinagar police are further investigating the case.

Bengaluru: The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lodged a complaint with the Governor on Wednesday, alleging the presence of Congress state in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala in a meeting with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials, chaired by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

Former minister R. Ashok personally met Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot at the Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru to file the complaint. A delegation comprising MLA Suresh, MP PC Mohan Sadhri, and several other party leaders accompanied him.

The BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)), the opposition parties, have strongly criticized the state government after a photograph of Randeep Singh Surjewala, the Karnataka Congress in-charge, surfaced on social media. The photo depicted him attending a meeting with officials at a hotel in Bengaluru.

The BJP’s complaint to the Governor raises questions about the alleged involvement of Surjewala in the government’s affairs, demanding a thorough investigation into the matter

BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday attacked the Union government under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS). He alleged that it was a conspiracy to stop the Karnataka Congress government from implementing the ‘Anna Bhagya’ guarantee scheme — 10kgs of free rice to every member of a BPL family from July 1, as promised in the run-up to the May 10 assembly polls.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, in a letter to the chairman and managing director of Food Corporation of India, dated June 13, stated that the sale of wheat and rice under OMSS (Domestic) for state governments was discontinued. 

Siddaramaiah, who read out the letter, asserted that regardless of the conspiracy, 10kgs of rice per head will be distributed. There is no problem as 5kgs per head will be procured from neighbouring states, and Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa will visit Telangana on Thursday to hold negotiations with Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao.

“The Central government has proved itself anti-poor and anti-Kannadiga, as it has taken a political stance and taken away the state’s share,” Siddaramaiah said, at an emergency press conference called in connection with the Annabhagya Yojana at Shakti Bhavan.

He claimed that on June 9, a letter was written to the deputy general manager of FCI, seeking the requirement of 2.28 lakh MT to distribute 10kgs of rice to each Antyodaya and BPL card holders every month. On June 12, FCI agreed to supply rice through an agreement at Rs 3,400 per quintal. But soon, the Central government had taken a political decision.    

FCI General Manager Harish had said that there is 7 lakh tonnes of rice stock, Siddaramaiah informed. “The motive behind this was to obstruct the Anna Bhagya programme from being implemented, as the Karnataka government will become popular,” he alleged. Muniyappa has already spoken to the rice producing states of Punjab, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Haryana. He said that due to lack of storage facilities in Punjab, rice cannot be supplied, and that he would meet the Telangana chief minister on Thursday. 

“Similarly, the information on rice available from the state of Chhattisgarh will be available and a clear picture will emerge by tomorrow evening,” he said. Despite having sufficient stock of rice, the Centre is writing to FCI to not give it to the states on OMSS should be called anti-poor, he said. However he clarified that the state government will write to the centre again and appeal in this regard. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil was also present.  

BENGALURU: Days after Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru in-charge minister DK Shivakumar inspected flood-prone Mahadevpura Zone, the first rain of South West Monsoon marooned several layouts in Varthur. HAL Layout received 8 cm rain, while the rest of the city 2 mm.

According to Varthur Ramesh, his home flooded like last year and blamed encroachment of stormwater drain and apathy of elected representatives and officials for the mess. “Former MLA Aravind Limbavali promised to fix drains, but it has not happened. Last time, many residents lost their clothes and furniture in the flood. This time, it flooded in the first rain itself,” he said.

Ramesh added that it took one hour for the rainwater to recede and cleaning activity to start. Jagadish Reddy, an activist, said the 60-feet drains have been reduced to 15 feet at many places, causing the flooding. “Due to encroachment at many places in Mahadevapura, this time too we are facing floods. Prakash Layout, Meenakshi Layout and Chinnappa Layout were submerged.

Approximately 3,000 residents were affected as water entered homes and shops,” he said. According to India Meteorological Department, Bengaluru received 2 cm rain between 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm on Monday with HAL alone recording 8 cm rainfall.  Due to heavy rainfall, traffic was impacted in Whitefield, Bellanduru, HAL and Marathahalli.

BENGALURU:   The Karnataka High Court rejected an appeal filed by Imran Ahmad, accused of being involved in the 2020 DJ Halli-KG Halli riots, questioning the order passed by the Special Court for NIA cases, rejecting his bail for the second time in November 2022. A division bench of Justices Krishna S Dixit and Pradeep Singh Yerur, dismissed the appeal as it was devoid of merits.

However, the bench observed, “we have very carefully considered every aspect of the matter, keeping in mind the sanctity of human rights as reco­gnized by the apex court in the light of Constitutional guarantees. We are conscious of the possible societal implications should an accused of the kind be enlarged from confinement”.

“We are of the considered view that the cause of justice would be served more by continuing him in confinement. We hasten to add that the subject case needs to be expeditiously tried since there are several accused persons, who have suffered the rejection of their bail petitions, and as a consequence, are in judicial custody.

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NEW DELHI: Karnataka chief ministerial aspirant Siddaramaiah on Wednesday met Rahul Gandhi amid hectic parleys in the party to name its chief minister face in the southern state.

The meeting comes a day after Siddaramaiah met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence and held discussion with him over government formation.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress chief D K Shivakumar is also likely to meet Rahul Gandhi later in the day.

Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are claimants to the top post in Karnataka after the party wrested the state from the BJP.

The Congress has held a series of meetings on who will be the chief minister of the state after the party staged a stunning victory in the assembly elections, winning 135 of out 224 seats.