Bangalore: The State Cabinet on Thursday approved the reports of two judicial commissions that successive governments had pigeonholed for years. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had for long campaigned for the publication of the two reports.

The reports are those of the Justice Kedambady Jagannatha Shetty Commission that inquired into the communal riots in Bhatkal town in Uttara Kannada district in 1993, which claimed 17 lives, and that of the late Justice K. Ramachandraiah Commission that inquired into the killing of the then BJP MLA for Bhatkal, U. Chittaranjan on April 10, 1996. Dr. Chittaranjan was shot dead at his house in Bhatkal town, and the assailants are still at large. The CBI had investigated the murder.

That the Janata Dal (Secular) agreed to approve the reports is seen as recognition of the strong feelings of the BJP over the two reports.

Briefing presspersons on the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Primary Education Minister Basavaraj S. Horatti said the Home Department had made certain amendments to the report. However, he did not disclose them.

Bagair hukum lands

The Cabinet decided to amend the rules regarding regularisation of bagair hukum (unauthorised cultivation) lands under the Karnataka Land Reforms Act. The amendment would extend the time for disposing of all the pending cases to five years instead of extending it by only one year. As many as 29,361 cases are pending.

The proposal to open a new government college of animal husbandry in Shimoga with an intake of 60 students was approved.

The Cabinet decided to reduce the minimum period of service of government employees to be eligible for pension from 15 years to 10 years.

Withdrawn

The powers of the Minister of Higher Education to sanction new medical, dental and engineering colleges have been withdrawn and entrusted to a group of ministers.

The Cabinet decided to vest that power with a Cabinet subcommittee comprising ministers from several other departments.

Mr. Basavaraj Horatti said no new professional college would be permitted before the application in that regard was approved by the subcommittee.

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