Privilege notice against K’taka DGP
A breach of privilege motion notice was moved in the state Assembly against director general of police (DGP) of Karnataka for booking Maharashtra home minister R.R. Patil. NCP legislator Shashikant Shinde moved the notice, however, speaker Dilip Walse-Patil reserved his ruling on it.
After the question hour was over, Mr Shinde moved the notice with the permission of the speaker. “Filing FIR against the home minister is a motivated act. Speaking for the rights of Marathi people in Belgaum cannot be termed as provocative,” he said.
The Karnataka government recently filed an FIR against Mr Patil for reportedly making a provocative speech. A case was registered at the Market Area police station under Section 153(A) of the Indian Penal Code against the home minister for promoting enmity between different groups, and provoking and creating disharmony between communities on the basis of religion, race, place of birth, and language.
Defending the home minister, Mr Shinde said that Mr Patil was not speaking on a public platform, but a private function. He said that the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti won with a thumping majority in the Belgaum municipal elections and this must have hurt the Karnataka government.
Last week, both Houses of the State Legislature expressed their displeasure and condemned the FIR against the home minister.
Mr Patil is said to have recalled an incident when the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike had blackened the face of Vijay Pandurang More, the then Belgaum mayor, for passing a resolution seeking merger of Belgaum and other Marathi-speaking boundary areas with Maharashtra.
Mr Patil’s supporters, however, maintained that the case was a result of the long-standing border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra over Belgaum.
Mr Patil had also denied making any provocative speech. “I have not made any provocative speech. It was not a rally, where I had allegedly tried to incite any mob. I only said that the injustice to Marathi people living at the borders would not be tolerated,” he had said.
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