Bengaluru, Aug 7: The Karnataka High Court has issued notice to the state government on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Karnataka Religious Structures (Protection) Act, 2021, which was implemented by the previous BJP government to protect 'illegal' religious buildings on public properties.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice M G S Kamal heard the PIL filed by D Keshavamurthy of Bengaluru and ordered issuing the notice and directing the Advocate General to file objections within three weeks.

The petition says that Section 3 of the Act contains the intention to reject the directions given by the Supreme Court in 2009 regarding the eviction of illegal religious structures. It points to the SC judgment on September 29, 2009 that illegal religious structures should not be allowed on public places like roads and parks.

The petition claims that the new Act proposed to preserve the illegal buildings constructed from September 29, 2009 to October 21, 2021.

The illegal religious buildings are in contravention of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act 1961, Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act 1976, Karnataka Municipalities Act 1964, Bangalore Metropolitan Area Development Authority Act 1985, and BBMP Act 2020, according to the petition.

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Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.

Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”

He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.

His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.

Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.

He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.

“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.