BELAGAVI: Ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s meeting with chief ministers of Karnataka and Maharashtra on December 14 in New Delhi on the boundary row, legal experts and leaders have suggested some measures that could help place the state government in a better position. Already, a delegation of Maharashtra leaders has met Shah in New Delhi a few days ago, complaining that Marathi-speakers in Belagavi being harassed and that the Karnataka government has failed to protect them.
A senior advocate in the Supreme Court, Mohan Katarki, who has been handling several major inter-state disputes in the country for a long time, said, “By virtue of absolute powers vested under Article 3, Parliament allocated Belagavi district to Karnataka under the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 by transferring the district from erstwhile Bombay State to New Mysore State (renamed Karnataka in 1973) along with erstwhile Dharwad, erstwhile Bijapur and north Kanara districts. Maharashtra has no grounds to question the legislative policy decision of Parliament. Its demand to transfer Belagavi is not justified, either in law or fact. The matter has been sealed by Parliament forever in favour of Karnataka.”
The decision of Parliament was based on linguistic, historical and contiguity considerations. It was fully backed by the States Reorganisation Commission’s recommendation, which was later validated by the Mahajan Commission in 1962. The Bombay legislature did not object when the States Reorganisation Bill of 1956 was approved, he observed.
“The Centre must convey this firmly to the Maharashtra government in the upcoming CMs’ meeting,’’ he added.
‘Declare Belagavi a UT’
At a Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held at Belgundi near Belagavi on Tuesday, several well-known Marathi leaders appealed to the Centre to declare Belagavi a UT till the boundary dispute case in the Supreme Court is resolved. Otherwise, all official government documents should be provided in Marathi to Marathi-speaking people in the region.
MAHA KANNADA FORUMS TO MEET BOMMAI
Despite the Maharashtra government threatening gram panchayats of Akkalkot and Jath taluks that have demanded their merger with Karnataka, a delegation of Kannada leaders from both the taluks and members of various Kannada organisations in Belagavi have sought to meet CM Basavaraj Bommai. They have requested for his time during the 10-day winter session of the state legislature in Belagavi. The gram panchayats have passed resolutions for the merger with Karnataka, hitting out at the Maharashtra government.