KALABURAGI: The Kalaburagi bench of Karnataka High Court, which on Friday commenced its hearing on allowing RSS to hold its Patha Sanchalana (route march) at Chittapur, directed the Kalaburagi district administration to conduct a ‘Peace Committee meeting’ before October 28 and decided to resume the hearing on October 30.
The bench, chaired by Justice MG Shukure Kamal, heard the arguments by Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty, who appeared through video-conference, and senior advocate Arun Sham, who represented RSS.
Shetty told the court that many organisations have applied for route marches and meetings in Chittapur on November 2, and it would be difficult to give permission for all organisations to hold their events on the same day, same time and same place. He sought two weeks from the court to find a solution.
Sham objected to Shetty’s argument, saying the court in its last sitting asked whether the RSS was ready to conduct a route march on November 2. Many organisations may have applied for permission to conduct route marches, but the court should give permission to RSS to conduct its Patha Sanchalana on November 2, he argued.
He said RSS has held route marches in 450 places in the State, and nowhere had law and order problem arisen. If the state government fears such a consequence if the permission is given to RSS, it should ask the Centre to send security forces to Chittapur, he said.
The court asked Shetty whether the district administration can convene the Peace Committee meeting before October 28, as postponing the issue will not solve the problem. Sham pleaded that the district administration should be directed to convene the meeting on Saturday.
Official sources told TNIE that the district administration will convene the meeting on October 28. The march was to be taken out on October 19, but was banned by the Chittapur tahsildar. RSS approached the Kalaburagi bench of the high court, which directed the organisation to apply afresh before the district administration seeking permission to take out the march. RSS applied afresh and sought permission from the district administration for the march on November 2. But Bhim Army and Dalit Panthers too have applied separately before the tahsildar to allow them to conduct the march on November 2.
The Gonda and Kuruba Sangha conveyed to the tahsildar that it would organise a meeting at Chittapur on November 2 to put pressure on the Centre to include Gonda and Kuruba castes in the ST category.
