Reclaim encroached govt land: Ravikumar

BJP MLC N Ravikumar on Thursday demanded the state government to recover a 5-acre patch of government land at Hulimavu in Bengaluru South taluk, following High Court directions. He was referring to the alleged encroachment by Islamia Institute of Technology, regarding which a case is currently in the Supreme Court.

"How did the education department allow the building to be constructed? What has the government done to recover the land following High Court order," Ravikumar asked Revenue Minister R Ashoka. The minister noted that they would file an affidavit in the Supreme Court over the case soon, as it was expected to come up for hearing on March 8.

Congress MLC Nazeer Ahmed said that land remained under dispute as authorities did not proceed beyond primary certification for the land, which was done in 1980. "It won't be wrong to say that the college is being discriminated against," he said. While government has sanctioned five or ten acres land to different education trusts within a couple of months, regularisation application of the engineering college is pending since 2018, he added.

MLC wants action against S L Bhyrappa

Congress MLC P R Ramesh sought criminal action against writer S L Bhyrappa for his alleged 'derogatory' remarks against Draupadi, a mythological character from the Mahabharata.

Speaking at the Legislative Council, Ramesh said that Bhyrappa's comments regarding Draupadi had hurt the feelings of some communities in Karnataka. "Has the 90-year-old writer lost his mind," Ramesh asked, urging authorities to file a case against Bhyrappa under various sections of IPC.