Prohibitory orders around Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru in view of crucial cabinet meet
Bengaluru: As the stage is set for a major political showdown starting Thursday in the wake of a spate of resignations threatening the existence of the coalition government in Karnataka, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Alok Kumar has issued prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, restricting the gathering of more than five persons and any form of protests within the two-km area around the Vidhana Soudha.
The police commissioner issued the orders on Wednesday night, taking into account intelligence inputs.
The prohibitory orders came into effect on Thursday when Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is scheduled to chair a cabinet meeting in the backdrop of 16 MLAs, including Housing Minister M T B Nagaraj, resigning and two Independent legislators -- R Shankar and H Nagesh -- withdrawing support to the Congress-JD(S) coalition government on Wednesday.
Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar is yet to accept the resignations of the MLAs. Kumar has said he has to first hear the legislators. He has also pointed out that of the 16 resignations of the MLAs, only five were in the proper format.
The developments surfaced well ahead of the Assembly session starting Friday. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked Kumaraswamy to step down, claiming that his government has lost the majority.
The saffron party has also urged the governor to step in following the crisis.
"We have petitioned the governor seeking his intervention. We may even move a no-confidence motion against the government. We will urge the governor to direct the government to prove its majority," BJP MLC and party spokesperson N Ravikumar told PTI.
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Karnataka Assembly passes hate speech bill amid din
Belagavi (Karnataka), Dec 18 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed a bill against hate speech amid a din.
The Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, the first such law in the country, has a provision for a jail term up to seven years and fine up to Rs one lakh.
It was passed amid din by the BJP MLAs.
The bill, cleared by the cabinet on December 4, was presented in the House by Home Minister G Parameshwara on December 10.
The Minister said the provision for 10 years jail term in the event of repeated offence has been reduced to seven years.
According to the bill, any expression, which is made, published or circulated in words either spoken or written or by signs or by visible representations or through electronic communication or otherwise, in public view, with an intention to cause injury, disharmony or feelings of enmity or hatred or ill-will against person alive or dead, class or group of persons or community, to meet any prejudicial interest, is hate speech.
During the discussion, Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh said coastal Karnataka is "burning" due to hate speech and hate crime.
BJP MLAs from the region raised objections to this and then trooped into the well of the house. Other BJP legislators followed them.
Later, the bill was passed.
