Karnataka Guv forwards Bill on 4 pc quota to Muslims in govt contracts to President's assent
Bengaluru, Apr 16 (PTI): Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has reserved the Bill pertaining to four per cent reservation to Muslims in government contract for the President's assent, Raj Bhavan sources said on Wednesday.
According to sources, Gehlot marked the Bill as reserved for Presidential assent and sent it to the Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department. Now, the state government will send the file to the President to get his nod to the Bill that has created quite a stir in Karnataka.
In his letter to the state government, Gehlot said, "The Constitution of India does not permit reservation based on religion, as it violates the principles of equality (Article 14), non-discrimination (Article 15) and equal opportunity in public employment (Article16)."
"Supreme Court has consistently in various judgments ruled that affirmative action must be based on Social and Educational backwardness, not on religious identity," Gehlot said.
He also pointed out that the Article 15 of the Indian Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth.
"It is clear from Article 200 and 201 that a Bill passed by the State Assembly may become law if the Governor gives his assent to it or if having been reserved by the Governor for consideration of the President, it is assented to by the President," Gehlot said.
He emphasised that there is no provision in the Constitution, which lays down that a Bill which has been assented to by the President would be ineffective as an Act if there was no compelling necessity for the Governor to reserve it for the assent of the President.
It is for the Governor to exercise his discretion and to decide whether he should assent to the Bill or should reserve it for the consideration of the President to avoid any future complication, he noted.
Gehlot said, "In the light of the above, I hereby exercising the powers under Articles 200 and 201 of the Constitution of India, reserve The Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (Amendment) Bill, 2025 for the consideration and assent of the President of India."
The Governor cited a recent Supreme Court judgment of Saurabh Chaudri versus Union of India (2003), which emphasised that Articles 15 and 16 prohibit reservations on the basis of religion and any affirmative action must be rather based on the socio-economic factors.
The Bill was passed by both houses of Karnataka Legislature amid protests by the opposition BJP on the last day of the previous Legislative session on March 21.
The protesting BJP legislators climbed on Speaker U T Khader's podium, tore the Bill and threw it on him. For this unruly behaviour, 18 BJP MLAs were suspended for six months.
The BJP charged that the Bill was illegal as there is no provision in the Indian Constitution to give reservation based on religion. It also alleged that the Bill smacks of appeasement politics of the ruling Congress.
The party has made this Bill a key issue during its 'Janaakrosha Yatre' (Public anger march), which is going on across the state.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
