Ettinahole project: CM directs to desilt 527 tanks
Bengaluru, August 06: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy directed the authorities to desilt 527 tanks in the limits of five districts under 527 tanks to enhance their water storage capacity.
Presiding over a meeting on the Ettinahole drinking water project at Vidhana Soudha here on Monday, the CM said that the project was aimed at taking the water from Ettinahole and its tributaries the water of which will join the Arabian Sea drought-hit Hassan, Tumkur, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Bengaluru rural districts for drinking water purpose and recharge ground water table. He directed the Minor Irrigation and Rural Development departments to rejuvenate the tanks identified under this scheme parallel to the project and implement multi-village drinking water scheme to utilize this water.
For the project, three land acquisition officers posts were sanctioned and they should be filled immediately. The officials should prepare an action plan to acquire more than 5000 acres of land in 21 villages and to give compensation to the land already acquired for the purpose, he said.
Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, Agriculture Minister Shivashankar Reddy, Water Resource Minister DK Shivakumar, Rural Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Finance Department Additional Chief Secretary ISN Prasad and other officers were present.
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K’taka HC judge whose controversial remarks triggered controversy expresses regret before open court
Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.
Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.
On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.
Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”
Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”
Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.
In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.
The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.
Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.
