Karnataka Assembly briefly adjourned after sound system malfunction
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Speaker U T Khader on Wednesday was forced to briefly adjourn the Karnataka Legislative Assembly after a malfunction of the sound system in the House.
The microphones on the Speaker’s table, as well as those on the tables of Ministers and members, went dead during the tabling of Bills in the Assembly.
The malfunction occurred shortly after Khader rebuked the ruling Congress members for not responding with "ayes" when the Bills were put to a voice vote, following objections from opposition BJP members, including Suresh Kumar, about the lack of response from the treasury benches.
BJP members took a dig at the ruling Congress, saying the sound system failure "reflects the government’s functioning."
They also commented that the Speaker was being silenced for rebuking ruling party members, which provoked laughter in the House.
As the sound system could not be immediately restored, the Speaker adjourned the House for ten minutes. Proceedings resumed shortly after the system was repaired.
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K’taka HC declines stay on menstrual leave order, says issue of public importance
Bengaluru: The State Government has strongly defended its decision to grant one day of paid menstrual leave every month to women employees, telling the Karnataka High Court that the notification was issued in the larger interest of women and is legally sound. The Court, treating the matter as one of significant public importance, refused to stay the implementation of the order and adjourned the hearing to January 20.
The Labour Department’s November 20, 2025 notification was challenged by the Bangalore Hotels Association, Avirat Defence System, Facile Aerospace Technologies Ltd and Samos Technologies Ltd. Justice Jyoti Mulimani heard the petitions on Wednesday.
At the start of the hearing, the bench asked whether the State had filed its objections. Advocate General K. Shashikiran Shetty informed the Court that objections had been submitted and that copies would be provided to the petitioners.
Defending the notification, the Advocate General said the government had introduced a progressive measure aimed at women’s welfare, one that no other state in India had implemented so far. He told the Court that 72 objections were received and considered before finalising the notification. He argued that the government was empowered to frame such policy under Article 42 of the Constitution and noted that the Supreme Court and the Law Commission had earlier made recommendations in this direction.
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When the Court asked whether the notification applied to all sectors, the Advocate General replied in the affirmative. The bench observed that the matter required detailed hearing because of its wider public impact and decided to take it up in January. The Court added that petitioners may file their responses to the State’s objections before the next hearing.
Petitioners’ counsel B.K. Prashanth requested that the State be restrained from enforcing the order until the case is decided. The Advocate General responded that the government had already begun implementing the notification across all sectors.
Justice Mulimani noted that nothing would change between now and the next hearing and emphasised that the Court would consider all arguments thoroughly before issuing any direction. The bench then adjourned the matter to January 20 and asked petitioners to file any additional applications with copies to the State’s counsel.
