Karnataka HC appoints committee to bring peace between advocates and police
Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday constituted a 10-member high-level committee to iron out differences arising between the advocates, police and the administration.
The panel includes the Advocate General, the Karnataka DGP and the Principal Secretary of the Home Department.
The formation of the committee was announced by the division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit who were hearing a petition taken up on its own over the incident in Chikkamagaluru where an advocate was beaten up by the police. This led to a law and order problem in Chikkamagaluru.
The state handed over the case to CID to investigate.
The High Court today said that in addition to the investigation agency doing its job, ''In our considered opinion which the tall members of the Bar too agreed all stakeholders should gather at one place to discuss the matter and generate a congenial atmosphere and restore amiability between the Bar, the police and the District administration.'' The other members of the committee are senior advocate and former Advocate General, Uday Holla and senior advocates Jaykumar S Patil, V Lakshminarayana, KN Phaneendra, D R Ravishankar, Vivek Subba Reddy, president of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru and Azad Ali Khan, president of the Chikkamagaluru Bar Association.
The committee was directed to meet at the Advocate General’s office on December 9 at 11 am. It will then submit its recommendations to the High Court.
Six police officers of the Chikkamagaluru Town Police Station, including a sub-inspector of police, were suspended over the November 30 incident in which advocate Preetham was caught by the police riding a two-wheeler without a helmet. He was taken to the police station where he was allegedly assaulted by the police. After protests by the advocates, the policemen were suspended. Five cases were registered against the policemen and the case was handed over to the CID. On Thursday, the High Court was informed that some police officers had gone on strike over the suspension.
Expressing serious concern, the court said, ''We share the same anguish. Strict discipline being the first requirement of the police force, it would be a case of fence swallowing the crop. What a section of the police staff has allegedly done is absolutely unacceptable to this court and to the civil society.'' However, the court refused to direct the arrest of the police officers involved in the November 30 incident and said restraint was the need of the hour. Citing the Supreme Court judgement in Lalita Kumari Vs Government of Uttar Pradesh, the court said that it was an issue pertaining to the domain of the Investigating Agency and ''therefore restraint in this regard is warranted.'' The court adjourned the hearing to December 12.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Suspected drones observed along IB in Jammu's Samba, being engaged: Army
Jammu, May 12 (PTI): Security forces are engaging suspected drones observed along the International Border in Samba district of Jammu region on Monday, an Army said.
This fresh incident of drone activity along the borderline comes barely hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first address to the nation following Operation Sindoor and the meeting of the DGMOs of India and Pakistan.
The Army, however, said there is no need to be alarmed.
“A small number of suspected drones have been observed near Samba in J&K. They are being engaged,” it said.
In the backdrop of the situation, several areas witnessed blackouts in Samba, Kathua, Rajouri, and Jammu.
Lights were switched off at the cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi and along its track as a precautionary measure, sources said.
On Monday, talks between the DGMOs were held during which issues related to the continuing commitment that both sides must not fire a single shot or initiate any aggressive or inimical action against each other were discussed, the Indian Army said.
It was also agreed that both sides would consider immediate measures to ensure troop reduction along the borders and in forward areas, it added.
The situation remained largely peaceful across Jammu and Kashmir, with no incidents of ceasefire violation reported along the Indo-Pak border Sunday overnight — marking the first calm night after 18 days of hostilities following the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people — mostly tourists — dead.
India and Pakistan on Saturday reached an understanding to cease all firing and military actions on land, air, and sea with immediate effect, following four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes that brought the two countries to the brink of full-scale war.
Eighteen days of intense hostilities following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, which brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war, ended with a ceasefire that restored calm along the Line of Control, the International Border, and the hinterland in Jammu and Kashmir. The Army thwarted Pakistan’s Hamas-style kamikaze drone attacks during the escalation.
Since the night of April 24, hours after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistani troops repeatedly targeted Indian positions along the LoC — beginning in the Kashmir Valley and quickly expanding to the Jammu region.
The latest hostilities began in the northern districts of Kupwara and Baramulla in the Kashmir Valley, before spreading southwards to Rajouri, Poonch, Akhnoor, and the Pargwal sector along the International Border in Jammu district. The firing affected five border districts — Baramulla, Kupwara, Poonch, Rajouri, and Jammu.
The recent round of cross-border firing further undermined the ceasefire agreement reached in February 2021, which has largely been seen as ineffective due to Pakistan’s frequent violations along the 740-km-long LoC.
The April 22 terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people — mostly tourists — in Pahalgam’s Baisaran valley, triggered a strong response from the central government.
The India-Pakistan border stretches over 3,300 kilometers, divided into three segments: the International Border (IB), spanning about 2,400 km from Gujarat to Akhnoor in Jammu; the 740-km-long Line of Control (LoC) that divides Jammu and Kashmir; and the 110-km-long Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL), which separates the Siachen Glacier region.
WATCH: OP Sindoor continues. Minutes after PM Speech.
— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) May 12, 2025
A small numbers of suspected drones being observed near Samba in J&K. Being engaged . pic.twitter.com/jmGmRkmQ26
