Karnataka HC dismisses petition seeking Bharat Ratna for Shivakumara Swamiji
Bengaluru, Apr 1: The High Court of Karnataka on Friday dismissed a public interest litigation which sought a direction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to confer Bharat Ratna on the late Shivakumara Swamiji of the Siddaganga Math in Tumakuru district.
The division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice S R Krishna Kumar dismissed the petition by one Rehan Khan, holding that such a direction can be issued only when the petitioner enjoys such a right. But in this case, no such right is enjoyed by the petitioner to seek such a direction.
The HC said it is the Union government which has the powers to confer Bharat Ratna and other national civilian awards. No individual enjoys any such power to grant the honours and therefore does not have the right to seek such a direction.
The petitioner's advocate Mohammed Tahir had argued that the Union government had established the Bharat Ratna in 1954 to recognise exceptional contribution in the fields of arts, science and public service.
Considering the contribution of Shivakumara Swamiji in the field of education, the petitioner had written to the Prime Minister on October 12, 2021 to recommend the Swamiji's name to the President of India to confer the highest civilian award.
The court was asked to direct the PM to consider the letter.
The Chief Justice asked the petitioner's counsel whether he was aware of the petition which sought the Bharat Ratna for industrialist Ratan Tata. (The Delhi High Court had dismissed the said petition).
Since individuals do not have the power to make such recommendations, the court cannot issue any such direction, the court said.
On a lighter note, the court said the petitioner could have met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was reported to be in Bengaluru, and submitted the request to him and he could have spoken to the Prime Minister.
The petition coincidentally was dismissed on the day when the 115th birth anniversary of Sri Shivakumara Swamiji was celebrated.
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Four booked for tying 18-year-old to tree, beating him up in UP's Pratapgarh
Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Four people were booked here for the abduction and assault of a man who they allegedly tied to a tree and beat up, police said on Wednesday.
The incident, a video of which has gone viral, took place on Tuesday afternoon under the Kunda police station limits.
The FIR was registered on Wednesday evening based on a complaint from the victim's father.
According to Keshav Prasad Yadav, a resident of Mauli village, some people called his 18-year-old son Nikhil Yadav on the phone and asked him to come out of his house around 2.30 pm on Tuesday.
As he reached outside the village as instructed, the accused allegedly forced him into a car and took him towards the Tinpedwa forest area, where they tied him to a tree and assaulted, the complainant said.
The attackers also recorded a video of the incident and circulated it on social media. The purported video shows the men thrashing Nikhil one after another, while one of them is assumed to have recorded the act.
Kunda Station House Officer Manoj Pandey confirmed the incident and said efforts are underway to identify and arrest all the accused.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has shared the video on social media, describing the incident as reflective of a "dominant mindset" against the PDA (Pichda or Backward, Dalit, and Alpasankhyak or Minority), and demanded strict action against the accused.
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