The almost 19-year-old Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute case will be heard in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, and Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai said that he is confident that senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi will argue effectively on behalf of Karnataka.
Responding to the media after meeting senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi in New Delhi on Tuesday, Bommai said Mukul Rohatgi is a senior lawyer, and our advocate general has already explained everything related to the Karnataka and Maharashtra border.
“I briefed Rohatgi about the legal background of the boundary dispute. He stated that every effort has been made to present arguments before the Supreme Court. An inquiry will be held on the maintainability standards set by the Maharashtra government. Previous CJI Deepak Mishra had prepared the issue of its maintainability,” he said, adding that the state’s counsels are ready to discuss how to advance the arguments.
It may be recalled here that the two neighbouring states have been at loggerheads for over five decades over a border dispute. While the Mahajan report clearly stated that Belgaum and around 240 villages should be part of Karnataka, around 260 villages should go to Maharashtra based on the linguistic basis, which was opposed in principle by the Maharashtra government, leading to a legal wrangle. Time and again, politicians from both states have used this dispute to gain political mileage, but the sheer number of years spent dragging the case clearly shows none of the parties pursued the case seriously. So far, both states have formed several border dispute committees and task forces to bring the issue to a logical conclusion, but as things stand on the ground, these committees remained decorative bodies and only burdened the exchequer.
In response to the fact that some villagers in Maharashtra, which has a large number of Kannadigas, have decided to join Karnataka by passing resolutions, Bommai said that there are rules for joining villages from one state to another.
In response to 42 villagers of Jath taluk asking for permission to visit him, Bommai said that this problem is not yesterday’s. “Time and again, such issues have been raised in the background regarding the lack of proper facilities, including water for irrigation and drinking. Now that the matter is in the Supreme Court and an all-party meeting is being called to discuss the border row, I will take legal advice and proceed on this matter,” he said.
Meanwhile, the chief minister came down heavily on the former chief minister and
Leader of the Opposition, Siddaramaiah, for making a political statement about the issue. “When the Siddaramaiah government decided to provide drinking water via a GO, it was only on paper. I am in a responsible position, and everything will be done under the law and under the provisions of the constitution,” he said.
Responding to the attack on the state-run buses in Maharashtra, he said that the state officials had already spoken to the Maharashtra Home Department and that now the situation was under control.