Caste census will be placed before Cabinet for discussion: Home Minister G Parameshwara
Bengaluru, Oct 6: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Sunday said the government has decided to place the much awaited Socio-Economic and Education Survey report, popularly known as the "caste census" before the Cabinet, where it will be discussed and decided whether to table it in the legislature or to make it public directly.
Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes under its then Chairman K Jayaprakash Hegde on February 29, had submitted the report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The report was submitted amid objections by certain sections of society and also within the ruling Congress.
Karnataka's two dominant communities -- Vokkaliags and Lingayats -- have expressed reservations about the survey, calling it "unscientific", and have demanded that it be rejected and a fresh survey be conducted.
"....a decision has been arrived at to discuss it in the Cabinet....there are reasons for the delay (in placing the report before the Cabinet), now a decision has been arrived at to place it before the Cabinet for discussion," Parameshwara said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "Let it be discussed in the Cabinet and later let it be decided whether to table it in the Assembly (legislature) or not, or to release it as it is. In case it needs to be introduced in the Assembly, whether to bring it in the next session or later, all these things will be decided."
If the Cabinet decides there is no need to table the caste census report in the Assembly, as it is a commission's report, and can be released as it is, it can be done, he further said, adding that "such an option is there..."
Asked if the Central government also does the caste census, won't it lead to confusion, the home minister said, "Let them do it. If there is any overlap, it can be rectified at a later stage... census done by the Central government and its data is used for everything both nationally and internationally."
To a question on opposition from Vokkaliga and Lingayat seers, also a section within the Congress for caste census data, and whether they can be convinced by stating that things can be rectified later, Parameshwara said, "don't know, let it be discussed in the Cabinet once. Let's see what decisions come out later."
With strong disapproval from the politically-influential two communities --Lingayats and Vokkaliga -- the survey report may turn out to be a political hot potato for the government, as it may set the stage for a confrontation, with Dalits and OBCs among others demanding for it to be made public.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress president, and a Vokkaliga, was a signatory, along with a couple of other ministers, to a memorandum submitted by the community to the chief minister earlier, requesting that the report along with the data be rejected.
All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of Veerashaiva-Lingayats, which has also expressed its disapproval vis-a-vis the survey and demanded conduct of a fresh survey, is headed by veteran Congress leader and MLA Shamanuru Shivashankarappa. Several Lingayat ministers and MLAs too have raised objections.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad asserted that the caste census report should be made public and implemented today, saying, it will be good for everyone from the caste census, and it is necessary for the all round development."If the government goes because of it, let it go. Why fear?"
Noting that the caste census had been done from the money of the common man, he said, "it is there in the party's manifesto. So there is no need for any irresoluteness about it. Party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge also have said that the caste census report should be implemented and if there are any minor anomalies it can be resolved through discussion."
Deputy CM Shivakumar's brother and former Congress MP D K Suresh had recently urged the chief minister to tread cautiously on the caste census issue.
Reacting to Suresh's statement, Hariprasad said, the caste census is Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party's programme and it was promised to people ahead of the election. "I don't know whether Suresh has read our manifesto before saying what he has...."
State BJP president B Y Vijayendra questioned as to why the caste census was not being implemented in the Congress' tenure, and pointed out that such questions are being raised within the ruling party.
He said as the situation has come for CM Siddaramaiah to resign in connection with the MUDA scam, to divert the attention of the people, the caste census issue is being raised. "If Siddaramaiah was honest he could have implemented this during his earlier tenure."
The BJP is not against the caste census, but there are apprehensions raised by several senior Congress leaders like Shamanuru Shivashankarappa that it was done in haste and unscientifically.
According to some analysts, successive governments have been shying away from releasing it as the findings of the survey are allegedly contrary to the "traditional perception" vis-a-vis numerical strength of various castes in Karnataka, especially Lingayats and Vokkaligas, making it a politically sticky issue.
The then Siddaramaiah-led Congress government (2013-2018) had in 2015 commissioned the survey in the state at an estimated cost of Rs 170 crore.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
