'Caste census': CM Siddaramaiah gets enumerated, assures personal info will not be misused
Bengaluru(PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was enumerated on Thursday for the ongoing Social and Educational Survey--widely referred to as the "caste census"--, said the survey was not limited to any one caste, but a scientific effort to shed light on the lives of everyone in the state.
Calling on everyone to participate in the survey, he assured that the personal information gathered will definitely not be misused.
The survey, being conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, began on September 22, and was scheduled to end on October 7. However, the state government decided to extend the survey till October 18.
"I have successfully fulfilled my duty by providing information to the staff who visited my house for the social and educational survey conducted by our government through the Backward Classes Commission. Our government has undertaken this survey with the aim of eliminating inequality and poverty and building an equal society," Siddaramaiah said in a post on 'X'.
Stating that everyone should participate in this survey without fail and give their information honestly, he said, "Only then will accurate information be obtained about the real situation of the society, and it will be possible to identify the economically, socially and educationally backward people and formulate welfare programmes for their progress."
This is not a survey limited to any one caste, but a scientific effort to shed light on the lives of everyone in the state. "By providing information in the survey, your personal information will definitely not be misused. Stop worrying and share the information with the staff," the CM said.
Before extending the deadline, the survey was estimated to cost Rs 420 crore.
The exercise is being carried out using a 60-question questionnaire "scientifically", according to officials.
The government had spent Rs 165.51 crore on an earlier Social and Educational Survey in 2015, which was later discarded.
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Can't say when I'll return to India; legally barred from leaving UK: Mallya to Bombay HC
Mumbai (PTI): Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, facing multiple cases of fraud and money laundering, told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that he cannot say when he will return to India as he is legally barred from leaving the UK.
In a statement submitted through his counsel Amit Desai to the high court, Mallya said he did not have an active passport after it was revoked and hence, he cannot give a definite date of return to India.
The statement was submitted after a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad made it clear last week that it would not hear Mallya's plea against the order declaring a fugitive economic offender until he returns to India.
The court had then asked the former liquor to clarify whether or not he intended to return to India.
Mallya, based in the United Kingdom since 2016, has filed two petitions in the HC -- one challenging an order declaring him a fugitive economic offender and the other questioning the constitutional validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
The 70-year-old liquor baron is accused of defaulting on multiple loan repayments of several thousand crores and facing money laundering charges.
The businessman, in his statement to HC, said he cannot give a definite date for his return as he does not have his Indian passport, which was revoked by the government in 2016, and also because there are orders of courts in England and Wales that prohibit him from leaving the country.
"Mallya is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for or be in possession of any international travel document. In any event, the petitioner is unable to precisely state when he will return to India," Desai read out the statement in the court.
The senior counsel reiterated that Mallya's presence was not required in the country for the court to hear his pleas against the fugitive tag and the provisions of the Act.
"If he (Mallya) were to appear in India, then all these proceedings would be rendered irrelevant as the statute says that once the offender appears in the concerned court of law, then all these orders would be set aside," Desai told the court.
The bench directed the Union government to file its reply to Mallya's statement and posted the matter for further hearing next month.
Mallya was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender in January 2019 by a special court hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The businessman left India in March 2016.
