Belagavi dispute hearing in SC: State sets up panel
MUMBAI: As the hearing in the Supreme Court (SC) over the inclusion of 865 villages in bordering districts in Maharashtra is expected to begin, the state government has decided to request the top court to expedite the legal proceedings.
A high-level 19-member committee comprising leaders from all parties met in Mumbai and decided to request the apex court to expedite the hearing. The government has constituted a two-member committee of senior ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai to oversee the development of the SC.
Besides, the government on Monday announced to extend the social schemes such as health insurance, benefits of the chief minister relief fund, and pension to the next of kin of the people who died fighting in border disputes among others.
Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “Until the decision in the court, we are extending the social schemes to the people from the border areas.”
He added that the state government has appointed a new panel of advocates to represent Maharashtra in the top court. Senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan will represent the state.
“We were expecting the hearing to begin on November 23, however, the SC has not designated a three-judge bench for the matter,” said Shivaji Jadhav, advocate on record representing the state in the apex court.
An official from the general administration department said that the state government will request the SC to quash the application made by the Karnataka government which contended that the power to decide the issue is with the central government, not the court.
“The demarcation of the boundaries and reorganisation of the areas was done by State Reorganisation Act 1956 and Bombay Reorganisation Act 1960,” he said.
There is no question referring the issue back to parliament, the official added. The Karnataka government had moved the application after the SC in 2014 ordered both states to submit documentary evidence to support their claims. The state, through its suit in 2004, had claimed over Belagavi city and 865 villages in four districts – Belagavi, Bidar, Karwar and Gulbarga.
Maloji Ashtikar, general secretary, of Madhyavarti Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, said about 20 lakh people have been waiting to be accommodated in Maharashtra.