Will follow orders on plea seeking deportation of illegal migrants including Rohingyas: K'taka to SC
New Delhi, Oct 30: The Karnataka government has told the Supreme Court that it would "scrupulously" follow the orders to be passed on a PIL seeking a direction to the Centre and states to "identify, detain and deport" illegal migrants including Bangladeshis and Rohingyas from the country.
A few days ago, the Karnataka government had told the apex court that it has no immediate plan to deport 72 Rohingyas, living in Bengaluru, and had sought dismissal of the PIL field by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay on the issue.
Vanaja K N , the Under Secretary of the Home Department of Karnataka, has filed the fresh affidavit saying, "I humbly state that the Karnataka state police have not housed Rohingyas in any camp or detention centre within its jurisdiction."
"However, 126 Rohingyas have been identified in Karnataka state... this respondent undertakes that whatever order would be passed by this hon'ble court will be scrupulously adhered and followed in letter and spirit," the affidavit said.
Upadhyay, in his PIL, has sought directions to the Centre and the states to identify, detain and deport all the illegal migrants and infiltrators including Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.
The plea has sought a direction to the Centre and the states to "amend respective laws to make illegal immigration and infiltration a cognizable, non-bailable and con-compoundable offence".
"The large-scale illegal migrants, particularly from Myanmar and Bangladesh, have not only threatened the demographic structure of bordering districts but seriously impaired security and national integration," the plea said.
Upadhyay's plea alleged there was an organised influx of illegal migrants from Myanmar through agents and touts via West Bengal, Tripura, and Guwahati.
"This situation is seriously harming the national security of the country," the plea said.
Earlier, the apex court, on April 8, had made it clear that Rohingyas, who have been detained in Jammu, shall not be deported to Myanmar unless the procedure prescribed for such deportation is followed by the authorities.
The bench had said it is true that rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution are available to all the persons who may or may not be citizens but the right not to be deported, is "ancillary or concomitant" to the right to reside or settle in any part of India.
While Article 14 deals with equality before law, Article 21 deals with protection of life and personal liberty.
The order was passed on an application seeking release of detained Rohingya refugees and also a direction to the Centre not to deport those who have been detained in the sub-jail in Jammu.
The Centre had earlier opposed the plea saying the country cannot be the "capital" for illegal immigrants.
Violent attacks allegedly by Myanmar army have led to an exodus of Rohingya tribals from the western Rakhine state in that country to India and Bangladesh.
Many of them, who had fled to India after the earlier spate of violence, have settled in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
