The Hindu : Dharwad lawyers remain firm; schools, offices closed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Dharwad lawyers remain firm; schools, offices closed

By Our Special Correspondent

HUBLI Sept. 2. The stand of Dharwad lawyers on the High Court Bench issue remained unchanged on Tuesday. Schools, colleges and government offices continued to be closed and lawyers, led by B.D. Hiremath, President of the Dharwad Bar Association, took out a procession and staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner and the Deputy Director of Public Instruction demanding that educational institutions be closed officially with a view to avoiding inconvenience to students. However, the authorities concerned said it was not possible to officially issue such instruction to educational institutions. There was also an incidence of stone throwing at the office of the Tahsildar, Dharwad, even as lawyers forced the authorities to close the office.

In Hubli, lawyers held a meeting and decided to involve people in other walks of life in the struggle. It was also decided to hold a meeting of people's representatives on Wednesday to work out the strategy.

Members addressing the meeting appeared unenthusiastic about the outcome of the talks between the Chief Justice and the all-party delegation. They said the talk of reconsideration of the decision by the Chief Justice would be meaningless unless it was done in a fixed time.

The Government should prevail upon the Chief Justice to go by the Cabinet resolution on the subject recommending Hubli-Dharwad as the venue for the Bench, Halemani, President, Hubli Bar Association, said. However, they were not averse to a Circuit Bench in Gulbarga, he added.

In view of the Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations, it was decided to exempt Hubli from the bandh on Thursday in the region. The protest on that day would be limited to lawyers taking out a procession, he said.

It was resolved to convene a meeting of lawyers of the region on Friday to work out a strategy and continue the boycott of courts till Saturday. They would meet again to review the situation, he said.

It was apparent from the deliberations that the twin-city Bar associations have been thinking differently as far as the agitation is concerned.

Bandh on Friday

Our Gulbarga Special Correspondent writes:

Organisations supporting the demand for a High Court Bench in Gulbarga city and the Gulbarga Bar Association today gave a call for a bandh in the district on Friday. A decision was taken at a meeting of the steering committee of the Bar association and the Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Gulbarga District Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other trade organisations.

All the major political parties, the Hyderabad Karnataka Horata Samiti and the Hyderabad Karnataka Yuva Horata Samiti, which is leading an agitation for separate statehood for the Hyderabad-Karnatak region, have supported the bandh call.

The bandh call assumes importance in view of the visit of the Chief Justice to Gulbarga city on Saturday to inaugurate a civil court building in Aland and that of the Public Works Minister, N. Dharam Singh, on Friday. The Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, D.B. Chandre Gowda, is also expected to participate in the programme.

The members of the Bar association and other organisations have decided to stage a protest before meeting the Chief Justice. They will present a memorandum to him. Meanwhile, the Bar association members and volunteers of the All India Students Federation and other students organisations took out a procession. They burnt dummies of six Ministers from Gulbarga district in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office.

Later, when they tried to picket the office of the Gulbarga Zilla Panchayat, there was an altercation between them and police. After heated exchange of words and jostling, the Zilla Panchayat President, Amatappa Kandakur, and the panchayat Vice-President, Sharanaprakash Patil, addressed the lawyers and students and expressed their support to them.

The lawyers and volunteers of the Hyderabad Karnataka Horata Samiti have decided to stop the Chennai-bound Mumbai Mail at the Gulbarga Railway Station on Wednesday.

Train stopped

Our Bijapur Staff Correspondent reports:

Lawyers in Bijapur city today staged a rail roko in support of their demand that a High Court Bench be set up in Bijapur.

The agitators, led by the President of Bijapur Bar Association, M.G. Mathpati, took out a procession to Ibrahimpur Railway Station on the outskirts of the city from District Court annexe. The Bijapur-Gadag passenger train was stopped for half an hour.

Mr. Mathpati said a Bench of the High Court was essential to enable common people to approach the higher judicial body without difficulty.

Referring to the opposition to establishing a Bench in Hubli-Dharwad from the people of Hyderabad Karnataka region, he said it was a fact that Bijapur was centrally located in North Karnataka. This fact had been recognised by the Chief Justice, N.K. Jain, who recently recommended against establishing a Bench in North Karnataka.

The lawyers have decided to take out a two-wheeler rally tomorrow.

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