Karnataka to strengthen law to ensure those involved in female foeticide don’t get bail easily
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Monday said the state government will strengthen the legislation concerned to ensure that doctors and quacks involved in female foeticide do not get bail easily.
Rao said his department will hold discussions with the police department to make sure that such cases are booked under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994.
“People who are accused of foeticide obtain bail. We failed in the legal battle with them. We are assessing the loopholes to plug them in the coming days,” the Minister said in the Legislative Council, replying to a question raised by the BJP's C T Ravi.
Ravi wondered why the government was not booking cases against such quacks under the PCPNDT Act which is a stringent law.
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In reply, the Minister said his department is serious about putting an end to female foeticide, due to which in just one year 23 cases were booked.
“In the last 21 years, less than 100 cases were registered but in just one year we booked 23 cases, which shows our seriousness. It is true that we are not taking up legal battles properly,” he said.
Rao said: “In future all the cases will be booked properly. Since the police book cases, we have discussed with the police department (with regard to quacks and foeticide).”
He also admitted that the department has no information on quacks operating in the State.
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41 lakh illicit liquor seized, 1.84 lakh arrested in major drive: K'taka Minister tells Assembly
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Excise Department has conducted a statewide crackdown on illegal liquor trade over the last two years, resulting in arrests and seizures of alcohol, Karnataka Excise Minister R B Timmapur said on Tuesday.
As many as 1,09,017 people were arrested, and seizures included 13.66 lakh litres of liquor and 27.19 lakh litres of beer, he said in a written reply to a starred question by Harihar BJP MLA B P Harish in the Karnataka Assembly.
The Minister said the enforcement drive covered the financial year 2023–24, 2024–25 up to June, and 2025–26 from July to October, targeting unauthorised liquor manufacture, storage, sale and transportation across the State.
"During this period, statewide enforcement drives resulted in a total of 1,84,570 raids against illegal liquor sales,” Timmapur said.
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He noted that 9,179 non-bailable cases and 91,968 bailable and compoundable cases under Section 15(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, were registered during the same period.
According to him, there have been no reports indicating that students have become addicted to alcohol due to illegal liquor sales.
The sale of alcohol to minors is strictly prohibited under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, and the department has issued periodic instructions to initiate legal action against violators, with strict enforcement and investigation measures in place, the Minister said.
Excise officials are carrying out regular road and night patrols, collecting intelligence, monitoring habitual offenders and conducting raids to identify illicit distillation units, unauthorised liquor outlets and spurious liquor manufacturing centres, he said, adding the department is also enforcing the law to prevent the production, storage, sale and transport of spurious, non-duty-paid and unauthorised liquor.
Regular patrols are being conducted on national and state highways, with suspicious vehicles being subjected to checks.
At the district level, standing committee meetings are held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners, and joint operations are carried out with the police and forest departments to curb excise-related offences.
The department is also conducting awareness programmes through Gram Sabhas and in schools and colleges to educate the public and students about the physical, mental and social health hazards associated with alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Timmapur added.
