Belgaum: SC pulls up Karnataka for ‘high-handedness’b

The incident had triggered a political storm in the poll-bound state.

Days after violence against Marathi-speaking villagers by the police in Karnataka’s Belgaum district, the Supreme Court Friday said a state cannot take law in its own hands and that it was a very serious issue.

“If the state acts in such a manner then there is nothing which can be more serious. If states take law in their own hands, this is really a very serious matter,” said a bench led by Chief Justice of India R M Lodha.

The observation came as the Karnataka government moved an application, seeking to restrain Maharashtra from setting up Marathi-speaking school in the disputed border area in Belgaum.

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Even as the court issued a notice to the Maharashtra government, it expressed concerns over the Karnataka police allegedly beating Marathi-speaking people last week.

As the Karnataka government sought an early hearing, the bench also raised questions over the manner in which the states were now fighting legal battles.

“States are adopting tactics which are generally adopted by frustrated private litigants. Does it behove of a state? As a state, you should lead by as to how litigants should behave,” said the court, while asking the Maharashtra government to file a response in six weeks.

The dispute over the boundary is already pending in the court.

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The incident had triggered a political storm in the poll-bound state.

The Maharashtra cabinet had on July 30 adopted a resolution condemning the police action against Marathi-speaking population in Yellur village in Karnataka.

Tension prevailed in the border town of Belgaum in Karnataka after a board put up by some villagers revived a decades-old dispute with neighbouring Maharashtra.

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