BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to reconsider its decision to cancel the Tipu Jayanti celebrations across the state.
The court also directed the state government to take precautionary measures to ensure peace and harmony if anyone celebrated Tipu Jayanti on November 10.
The division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice SR Krishna Kumar issued this direction after hearing a PIL questioning the July 30th decision of the government to cancel the celebrations.
The petition was filed by Bilal Ali Shah, a resident of Lucknow in UP, who claimed to be a descendant of Tipu. Two other organisations were also part of the petition.
During the hearing, the advocate general submitted that the state government has taken a policy decision to cancel the celebrations in view of the communal clash in Kodagu district.
However, it has not banned the celebrations in the state. Thus the government has no objection if the petitioner or others celebrated the birth anniversary celebrations of Tipu, he argued.
On the other hand, senior counsel representing the petitioner argued that the state government’s decision is arbitrary.