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Krishna, Jain `favour consensus' on HC Bench

By Our Staff Correspondent

BIJAPUR SEPT. 9. Members of the Bijapur High Court Peetha Horata Samiti (BHCPHS) on Tuesday met the Chief Justice of the High Court, N.K. Jain, and the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, in Bangalore and pleaded their case for a Bench of the High Court in Bijapur.

The president of the samiti, M.G. Mathpati, told The Hindu over the phone from Bangalore that Mr. Justice Jain and Mr. Krishna indicated that they had an open mind on establishing a Bench of the High Court in North Karnataka. They stated that they favoured a consensus among the people of the 12 districts on the location of the Bench.

Mr. Mathpati said the delegation first met Mr. Krishna and urged him that the Government should not take a decision in favour of any place to locate the Bench under political pressure. It should consider the geographical merit of the place while taking a decision. Mr. Krishna stated that the Government would not decide on the location. It was left to the discretion of the Chief Justice. The Government was ready to provide infrastructure for the Bench.

Mr. Mathpati said when the delegation appealed to convene a meeting of representatives of the 12 districts to arrive at a consensus on the location of the Bench, Mr. Krishna refused to do so stating that it had to be decided by the claimants.

Mr. Mathpati said Mr. Justice Jain told the delegation that he was ready to relax one of the guidelines laid down by the Justice Jaswant Singh Commission that pending cases of the region asking for a Bench should not be less than one third of the total cases pending before the principal seat.

There should be a consensus among the claimant districts on the location. However, the place should also meet other guidelines, Mr. Justice Jain told the delegation, according to Mr. Mathpathi.

Mr. Mathpati, who is the president of the Bijapur Bar Association (BBA), said the lawyers would withdraw boycott of court proceedings from tomorrow, but would continue dharna in support of their demand.

The Government Chief Whip, C.S. Nadagouda, the MLAs, S.K. Bellubbi and Raju Algur, the President of Bijapur Zilla Panchayat, Yashwantaraygouda Patil, the general secretary of the samiti, Vishwanath Bhavi, and the secretary of the BBA, T.N. Padatare, were part of the delegation. However, Mr. Nadagouda kept away when the delegation met Mr. Justice Jain. A delegation from Bagalkot district is scheduled to meet Mr. Krishna and Mr. Justice Jain on Wednesday.

Prayers offered

Our Gulbarga Special Correspondent reports:

The agitating advocates today offered prayers and a "ghee abhisheka'' to an idol of Ganesha installed at Saraf Bazaar seeking blessings for the establishment of a permanent Bench of the High Court in Gulbarga.

The advocates, who have been boycotting court proceedings for the past 15 days, took out a procession from the premises of the Gulbarga Bar Association under the leadership of the general secretary of the association, Avinash Uploankar, and a senior advocate, Vilas Kumar, to Saraf Bazaar and offered prayers to the idol installed there as part of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Meanwhile, two teams of senior advocates today left for Bijapur, Raichur, Koppal, and Bellary to seek the support of Bar associations of these districts for the establishment of the Bench in Gulbarga.

A team led by Ustad Sadat Hussain, and C.A. Patil, senior advocates, would hold talks with the office-bearers of the Bijapur Bar Association. The association president, Kashinath Motakpalli, would lead another team to hold discussions with the office-bearers of Raichur, Koppal, and Bellary Bar associations.

`Close KAT Court'

Our Belgaum Staff Correspondent reports:

Continuing their agitation for the 14th day today, the lawyers led by the Belgaum Bar Association president, S.S. Kivadsannavar, and the senior advocates, D.D. Tigadi and A.R. Vijaykumar, staged a protest seeking the closure of the KAT Court on the premises of the Deputy Commissioner's office.

The KAT members, Karnappa Rastapur and Paramesh Pande, adjourned the cases slated for hearing after reportedly consulting the KAT Chairman, Abhay Prakash, in Bangalore over the phone.

The lawyers went around the court premises shouting slogans in favour of a Bench of the High Court in Belgaum.

Bandh in Gadag

Our Hubli Special Correspondent reports:

A bandh was observed in Gadag on Monday demanding that a Bench of the Karnataka High Court be set up in North Karnataka, particularly in Hubli-Dharwad.

Various organisations supported the bandh call. Buses and other vehicles were off the road. Shops and other business establishments remained closed.

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