Independent MLA Sharath Bachegowda extends outside support to Congress in Karnataka
Bengaluru, Feb 25: Independent MLA Sharath Bachegowda on Thursday announced his outside support to the Congress in Karnataka, and will be an associate member of the party in the Legislative Assembly.
Sharath, 37, son of BJP Member of Parliament from Chikkaballapur B N Bachegowda, gave the letter of support to Congress Legislature Party Leader Siddaramaiah, in the presence of KPCC president D K Shivakumar, host of other leaders, and a large gathering of his supporters here.
Sharath represents Hoskote assembly constituency in Bengaluru Rural district.
Being an Independent MLA, he cannot join the Congress, but can extend support on issues as the associate member of the legislature party.
However, his supporters can join the Congress.
He had held a series of meetings with senior Congress leaders including AICC general secretary incharge of the state Randeep Singh Surjewala, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar recently regarding supporting the party.
Sharath and his supporters had joined hands with the Congress during the gram panchayat polls, and he recently told PTI he wants to be associated with a national party which would give him an opportunity to lend voice to broader issues.
Speaking at an event organised for this purpose, Sharath said his decision to support Congress was keeping in mind the interest of his voters and development of his constituency.
He said he will continue as an independent MLA.
CLP Leader Siddarmaiah said Sharath has sought the Congress party's support and it was ready to extend him all support.
"He also has extended his support to our legislature party on the floor of the House, and I have accepted his support," he said.
Remembering that he too had campaigned against Sharath during the December 2019 bypolls, Siddarmaiah said, "he (Sharath) is anti-BJP and will join hands with us in our fight against the BJP and this government."
KPCC chief Shivakumar said it was time for celebration, recalling that he had been making attempts for 30-40 years to gain support of the people of Hoskote, and somehow it has been achieved with this association through Sharath.
Sharath had served as secretary of BJP's Yuva Morcha in the past.
He was expelled from the saffron party as he rebelled and decided to contest against the party's official candidate MTB Nagaraj during the December 2019 assembly bypolls.
Sharath was against the BJP's decision to field Nagaraj, who had jumped ship from the Congress.He went on to pull off a victory in the bypolls with his 'Swabhimani' campaign as an independent candidate.
In the 2018 assembly election, Sharath, who was the BJP candidate, had lost to Nagaraj, who was then with the Congress.
According to sources close to him, Sharath is looking forward to secure his political future with the Congress realising his chances are bleak in the BJP, with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa backing his opponent Nagaraj, by making him MLC despite losing the assembly bypolls and also inducting him as municipal administration minister.
By supporting him, Congress too plans to bank on Sharath and his support base for improving its prospects in Hoskote.
Sharath is seen as a "local boy" as his father and now MP had represented the seat several times in the past from the Janata Dal and also the BJP, sources said.
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Cow has unique status, its slaughter can have repercussions on peace: Punjab and Haryana HC
Chandigarh (PTI): The cow is a pious animal and "certain acts" can severely impact peace when they offend beliefs of a "significant population group", the Punjab and Haryana High Court has said while dismissing the anticipatory bail given to a Nuh resident accused of transporting cows for slaughter.
Asif was booked along with two others in April this year under the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015, and the Prevention of Cruelty Act, 1960, for allegedly transporting cows to Rajasthan for slaughter.
"The present offence, apart from its legal implications, is laden with emotional and cultural undertones, given the unique status of the cow in Indian society," Justice Sandeep Moudgil said in an order earlier this month. It was made public on Monday.
"This court cannot remain oblivious to the fact that in a pluralistic society like ours, certain acts, while otherwise private, can have severe repercussions on public peace when they offend the deeply held beliefs of a significant population group," the court said.
The cow is not only a pious animal but also an integral part of India's agrarian economy, the judge said.
According to the state counsel, the petitioner was actively involved in the alleged offence of cow slaughter. Therefore, his custodial interrogation was imperative for a fair and effective investigation, he submitted.
The court said the Constitution does not merely protect rights in abstraction but seeks to build a just, compassionate, and cohesive society.
"Article 51A(g) Constitution of India enjoins every citizen to show compassion to all living creatures. It is in this context that the alleged act of cow slaughter committed repeatedly, deliberately, and provocatively strikes at the core of constitutional morality and social order," said the order.
The court observed that the offence alleged in the present FIR deals with the allegation of slaughtering a cow in conscious defiance of existing law and in utter disregard to the sentiments of the community at large.
'It is evident from the material placed on record that the petitioner is not a first time offender. He is alleged to have previously been involved in three other FIRs pertaining to similar offences.
"In those cases, the petitioner was granted the benefit of bail as a gesture of judicial trust, which appears to have been misused, rather than respected," said the court order.
Anticipatory bail, it said, is a discretionary relief, intended to protect innocent individuals from motivated or arbitrary arrest, not to provide sanctuary to those who repeatedly violate the law with impunity.
Protection of pre-arrest bail should not be granted when the applicant has been shown to be a habitual offender or where his custodial interrogation is necessary for fair investigation, it said.
The court also cited the Supreme Court verdict in the 2005 State of Gujarat vs Mirzapur Moti Kureshi Kassab Jamat case that upheld the constitutional validity of cow slaughter prohibitory laws and recognised the constitutional directive under Article 48 of the Constitution as reflecting the moral and economic ethos of society.
While dismissing the anticipatory bail plea, Justice Moudgil also observed that the court is conscious of the need to safeguard individual liberty.
"But where such liberty is demonstrably misused, and where the petitioner's conduct is indicative of recidivism, the law must respond with firmness. The right to bail is not to be confused with the right to impunity," according to the order.
"Considering the serious nature of the allegations involving offences of moral turpitude, coupled with the fact that the petitioner is a habitual offender with a likelihood of reoffending, this court is of the opinion that no grounds are made out for grant of anticipatory bail," it said.
