Karnataka Home Minister Parameshwara urges SIT to complete Dharmasthala probe at earliest
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday said the government directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing allegations of “multiple murders, rapes and burials” in Dharmasthala to complete the investigation at the earliest.
He also said the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) reports in connection with the case are pending.
Speaking to reporters, Parameshwara said, "SIT is doing its job. FSL reports have to come. The recently discovered materials have been sent to FSL. We have asked them to finalise and send the reports on what was found earlier. We have told the SIT to complete the probe at the earliest."
"One after the other, people coming and filing applications in connection with the probe cannot continue; there should be an end."
Further, he said, "We cannot tell the SIT to complete the probe tomorrow or the day after. They will require information or material to conclude the probe. The FSL report has to come; those reports have to be finalised. Considering all those things, SIT will act."
The controversy erupted after a complainant, later identified as C N Chinnaiah and arrested on charges of perjury, claimed to have buried several bodies, including women with signs of sexual assault, in Dharmasthala over the past two decades, implicating the administrators of the local temple.
The SIT, formed by the state government, has conducted searches at multiple locations identified by the complainant in forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River, recovering skeletal remains at two sites.
Earlier this month, the SIT recovered additional remains during a search operation in the Banglegudde forest area near the Netravathi bathing ghat.
On a question relating to a Supreme Court order in May dismissing a writ petition filed by the complainant and others, Parameshwara said the SIT may consider that factor in their report.
On the delay in action against activist Mahesh Shetty Thimarody, Parameshwara said, "Let’s see what happens in court. Action will be taken against him, or he will be arrested in accordance with the law by the police. The government will not interfere or give instructions. Police will take action as they have to."
Thimarody is said to be among a group of people who supported the complainant Chinnaiah in the case of allegations against Dharmasthala. He had also been spearheading the campaign seeking justice for a 2012 rape-and-murder case involving a college-going girl.
This followed police reports citing several cases against him, including unlawful assembly, rioting, assault, criminal intimidation, disobedience of police orders, spreading false information, and violations under various sections of the Arms Act.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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