Karnataka Assembly passes bill to cut salaries of legislature members by 30 percent
Bengaluru: The Karnataka assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to reduce salaries and allowances of members of the state legislature by 30 percent for a year to augment financial resources required to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state expects to save somewhere between Rs 16 crore to Rs 18 crore by this exercise, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said, while moving the 'Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pensions and Allowances and Certain Other Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020' to effect the changes.
"In the wake of COVID-19, we discussed with leaders of our party and also the opposition that as a gesture, ministers, MLAs and MLCs, heads of authorities, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker should agree to a 30 percent salary cut," Madhuswamy told the Assembly.
Appreciating the move, Arkalgud JD(S) MLA A T Ramaswamy demanded to know how the government-approved hike in salaries of judicial officers during the pandemic when the state was facing a financial crunch.
"During this coronavirus period, the state is facing financial problems. It is our duty to rush aid for relief work.
However, should this law be applied to all or only to the Karnataka Legislature?" Ramaswamy asked the Law Minister.
He alleged that judicial officers in Karnataka had on their own, hiked their salaries, and then the government gave its nod.
"Is this appropriate? Has the government lost its strength? Without seeking your consent, without the approval of the legislature, if they hike their salaries and you give your nod later, are they above the law or the Constitution? You need to clarify this," Ramaswamy said.
To this, Madhuswamy said he was not in a position to immediately give an answer as he did not have the facts.
He, however, assured Ramaswamy that he would gather the information and provide it to him.
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Woman poses as man to loot jewellery of Rs 1.5 crore from relative's house; arrested
Palghar (PTI): A 27-year-old woman disguised as a man to gain entry into the residence of her sister's father-in-law and robbed jewellery of more than Rs 1.5 crore from the house in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Wednesday.
The incident took place at Manickpur in Vasai area on Monday afternoon and the woman was apprehended from Navsari in Gujarat the same night, they said.
The accused, dressed up as a man, came to the house of her sister's 66-year-old father-in-law, who lived alone, under the pretext of wanting to see it for some deal.
After entering the house, the accused took the elderly man to the toilet on the pretext of checking it, locked him inside and fled with 1.4 kg of gold ornaments and 2.3 kg of silver items, collectively valued at Rs 1,50,84,050, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Madan Ballal said.
Based on the victim's complaint, an FIR was registered the same day under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections for theft, robbery and wrongful confinement, and the police examined 75 to 80 CCTV footages, he said.
"We came across a footage showing a man carrying the stolen items and placing them somewhere before disappearing from sight, after which a woman collected them," the official said.
Along with technical surveillance and intelligence inputs, the investigators received a tip that a relative of the victim in Gujarat could be involved in the crime.
Acting swiftly, a crime branch team from here, with the assistance of the Navsari police, apprehended the woman, identified as Jyoti Mohan Bhanushali, from Gujarat late Monday night, Ballal said.
"During interrogation, she confessed to hatching the plan herself. Disguised as a man, she visited the house of her sister's father-in-law, knowing he lived alone, and carried out the robbery," the official said.
The police have recovered all the stolen items, he said, adding further probe was on into the case.
