Special cabinet meeting on caste census in Karnataka ends without any major decision
Bengaluru, Apr 17 (PTI): Amid internal differences over the Social and Educational Survey report, popularly known as 'caste census', a special meeting of Karnataka cabinet that was convened on Thursday to discuss it, ended inconclusive, without any major decision.
However, denying any internal rifts, ministers who attended the meeting said they discussed the parameters used for the survey, and sought for more information and technical details from senior officials.
The cabinet will once again discuss the survey report on May 2 and decide on it.
"The cabinet has discussed the report in detail and it was felt that more information and technical details were required for discussion. So, senior officials have been asked to provide it. The discussion today was incomplete," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said.
Briefing reporters, he said that the discussions happened in a cordial atmosphere, and several matters like population, backwardness, the parameters that were used during the social and educational survey, the economic parameters that were considered, were all discussed to an extent.
As discussions were incomplete, it will be discussed once again. "As the next cabinet meeting will be held in MM Hills in Chamarajanagar district with focus on developmental issues of the region, it has been decided to discuss this matter once again in the cabinet that will be held on May 2, and make a final decision," he added.
According to sources, some ministers expressed reservations about the survey report, citing concerns expressed from several quarters calling it unscientific and outdated, and about undercounting. Following this, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asked all ministers to give their opinion in writing or verbally.
Soon after the meeting ended, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, speaking to reporters, said that the chief minister had asked ministers to give their opinion before the next cabinet meeting.
Though there were reports that a couple of ministers spoke in an "upset tone" during the discussion on the survey report, expressing their reservation about it, this was not confirmed by other ministers present in the cabinet meeting. They maintained that the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere.
Various communities, especially Karnataka's two dominant ones -- Vokkaligas and Veershaiva-Lingayats -- have expressed strong reservations about the survey that has been done, calling it "unscientific", and have demanded that it be rejected, and a fresh survey be conducted.
Objections have also been raised by various sections of society, and there are also strong voices against it from within the ruling Congress.
However, not everyone is opposed. Leaders and organisations representing Dalits and some sections of OBCs, among others, are in support of it, and want the government to make the survey report public and proceed with it, stating the government has spent about Rs 160 crore public money on it.
With strong disapproval from the two politically influential communities, the survey report may turn out to be a political hot potato for the government, as it may set the stage for a confrontation, with Dalits and some sections of OBCs, among others demanding for it to be made public and implemented.
Responding to a question, was there any discussion regarding pros and cons of the survey report at the cabinet, Patil said, "nothing like that....Parameters used for the survey like the person's source of income, whether he or she is owning cattles -- such things came up for discussion. Some senior ministers gave their guidance on certain matters and sought for some details."
"Details will be provided by officials. It will be discussed in the next cabinet and decided," he said.
To a question whether there was discussion on the contentious issues of population strength of various communities, the Law Minister said the misinterpretations that are going on regarding the population are not completely true and it has already been clarified. "94.17 per cent of the population was surveyed."
Asked if anyone disputed about the Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat population mentioned in the survey, he said that matter did not come up for discussion today.
Findings of the survey is said to be contrary to the "traditional perception" with regard to the numerical strength of various castes, especially the dominant Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas, making it a politically sticky issue.
According to sources, ministers from these two communities have placed their objections in this regard, during the cabinet meeting.
Both Veershaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas, and also few other communities have alleged that their various sub castes have been divided among different categories of OBC, resulting in decrease in their respective population numbers. They have alleged that many households were left out from the survey or undercounting.
After a long wait, the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes' report was placed before the cabinet for the first time on April 11.
The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government (2013-2018) had in 2015 commissioned the survey in the state.
The State Backward Classes Commission, under its then chairperson H Kantharaju, was tasked with preparing a caste census report. The survey work was completed in 2018 towards the end of Siddaramaiah's first tenure as Chief Minister, and the report was finalised by his successor K Jayaprakash Hegde in February 2024.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
