BENGALURU: The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday decided to withdraw criminal cases filed against senior Congress leaders, including Chief Minister Siddaramiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, for allegedly violating Covid-19 norms during the party’s ‘Mekedatu padayatra’ in January 2022.
Speaking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil said the Cabinet has decided to withdraw 9 criminal cases booked in various police stations of the state.
The Congress, then in Opposition, had organised the padayatra demanding implementation of the Mekedatu reservoir project across the Cauvery River, despite Covid-19 restrictions. They walked from Ramanagara to Bengaluru, cases were booked for violating social distancing norms as part of Covid guidelines.
The decision to withdraw the cases was taken based on the plea by MLA Ashok Pattan, who is also the government’s Chief Whip in the Legislative Assembly.
Elaborating, Patil said the 9 cases are related to violation of Covid norms by Congress leaders, including Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, MP DK Suresh and others for taking part in the padayatra based on the complaint filed by Ramanagara tahsildar.
The march with the theme ‘Namma Neeru, Namma Hakku’ (Our water, Our right) that had initially begun at Sangama, the confluence of Cauvery and Arkavathi rivers at Kanakapura in Ramanagara district, on January 9, 2022, was scheduled to conclude at Basavanagudi here on January 19, after spanning a total distance of nearly 139 km.
The Congress had organised the march with the theme ‘Namma Neeru, Namma Hakku’ (Our Water, Our Right), demanding the implementation of the Mekedatu project. The State Government had imposed Section 144 as part of its efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19.