Karnataka govt to wait for HC verdict on hijab row, before taking further decision

Bengaluru: The Karnataka cabinet on Wednesday decided to wait for the High Court’s verdict on the ‘hijab’ row, before taking any further decision on the matter, which has snowballed into a major controversy.

The Karnataka High Court resumed hearing on the petitions filed by five girls studying in a Government Pre-university College in Udupi, questioning hijab restriction in the college.

”We (at the cabinet) discussed the Hijab row, but as the High Court is hearing the matter, we felt it is not appropriate for the cabinet to take any further decisions on the issue today. It was decided to wait for the court’s verdict before taking any decision,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said.

Briefing the reporters about the cabinet decisions, he said as the matter is sub-judice, discussing it will not be appropriate, as material and merit of the case will get involved.

As protests for and against the hijab intensified in different parts of Karnataka and turned violent in some places, the government had declared a holiday to all high schools and colleges in the state for three days.

Last week, the government had issued an order to make uniforms prescribed by it or management of private institutions mandatory for its students at schools and pre-university colleges across the state.

Among the other decisions, the cabinet has okayed the Karnataka Stamp (Amendment) bill 2022, fixing maximum Rs 25 crore as the stamp fee on valuation and shareholding, during the merger or bifurcation of a company, which is on par with Maharashtra.

As the stamp duty was high, several big companies during merger and bifurcation were avoiding registration in Karnataka, so it was decided to fix the fee, the Minister said.

The cabinet has also given consent to Bengaluru peripheral ring road project to be implemented at the earliest.

Madhuswamy said, ”Land acquisition for this was a major issue and the Supreme Court directed the government to resolve it, while also providing an opportunity for negotiation. The road will be 100 meters wide and it will be about 71 km.” The road will be constructed on a 50-year lease basis, so the contractor, who wins the tender, will have to acquire the land, develop the ring road, and can collect the toll, he said, adding that about Rs 5,000 crore will be land acquisition cost, the government will pay its share, he added.

Among the other decisions taken by the cabinet was approval for the revised estimate of Rs 16.28 crore for the constructions of mini Vidhana Soudha (to house government offices) at Kumta in Uttara Kannada district, also administrative approval for an estimate of Rs 560 crore, for the construction of Anubhava Mantapa at Basavakalyana.

The government has also given its nod for projects under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in various parts of the state and has mandated that the work should be completed in a time-bound manner.

Noting that under JJM, the government’s effort is to provide functional household tap connections (FHTC) to all rural households, Madhuswamy said, ”Wherever we have a water source and the water is readily available, we have taken it on a priority basis and have given approval. The approvals have been given under about Rs 9,200 crore program for the state.” The cabinet has also approved a bill aimed at considering the Karnataka Civil Service, 2011 batch gazetted probationers’ list (362 candidates) notified by the Karnataka Public Service Commission, as selected and to give them appointments. The bill will be tabled in the assembly, the Minister said.

The candidates, who made the selection list for Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ gazetted probationers’ posts, have been left in the lurch after the entire recruitment process faced allegations of corruption.

The cabinet also gave its assent to the Governor’s address to the joint sitting of the state legislature scheduled for February 14. The Chief Minister will submit it to the Governor.