<p class="title">Congress leaders in the Legislative Council staged a walkout on Tuesday over the Shivamogga quarry explosion incident alleging the state government’s laxity in handling the issue. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The MLCs had been discussing the incident in detail since Monday, demanding an inquiry by a sitting High Court judge and asking the government to hand over the case to NIA for a detailed investigation. </p>.<p class="bodytext">On Tuesday, opposition leader SR Patil and others reiterated their demand questioning why the government was afraid to hand over the case to a sitting judge. “You have appointed a revenue commissioner to inquire into this. This is not enough. You have to take this seriously,” Patil urged the government. </p>.<p class="bodytext">They charged that the government seemed to be lax about pinning the guilty after making a few initial arrests and also wanted to know when the government would begin taking action. </p>.<p class="bodytext">In response, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the state police were more than capable of handling the matter, “We will wait for the interim report. Once that comes out, we will consider handing it over to NIA if there is anything in the incident falling under the purview of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). We have an open mind on this,” he said. </p>.<p class="bodytext">To this, the opposition leaders demanded the home minister to specify when the interim report would be ready. As the minister responded that the government could not impose a deadline on the interim report, the Congress leaders walked out of the House in protest. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Angered, the minister blamed the Congress for encouraging illegal mining. “Today’s situation is a result of your action over years. Congress is responsible for granting these licences. We are questioning your earlier decisions. Illegal mining is going unabated from 20 years. Why didn’t the Congress government take any action against this in the past?” he asked. </p>
<p class="title">Congress leaders in the Legislative Council staged a walkout on Tuesday over the Shivamogga quarry explosion incident alleging the state government’s laxity in handling the issue. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The MLCs had been discussing the incident in detail since Monday, demanding an inquiry by a sitting High Court judge and asking the government to hand over the case to NIA for a detailed investigation. </p>.<p class="bodytext">On Tuesday, opposition leader SR Patil and others reiterated their demand questioning why the government was afraid to hand over the case to a sitting judge. “You have appointed a revenue commissioner to inquire into this. This is not enough. You have to take this seriously,” Patil urged the government. </p>.<p class="bodytext">They charged that the government seemed to be lax about pinning the guilty after making a few initial arrests and also wanted to know when the government would begin taking action. </p>.<p class="bodytext">In response, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the state police were more than capable of handling the matter, “We will wait for the interim report. Once that comes out, we will consider handing it over to NIA if there is anything in the incident falling under the purview of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). We have an open mind on this,” he said. </p>.<p class="bodytext">To this, the opposition leaders demanded the home minister to specify when the interim report would be ready. As the minister responded that the government could not impose a deadline on the interim report, the Congress leaders walked out of the House in protest. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Angered, the minister blamed the Congress for encouraging illegal mining. “Today’s situation is a result of your action over years. Congress is responsible for granting these licences. We are questioning your earlier decisions. Illegal mining is going unabated from 20 years. Why didn’t the Congress government take any action against this in the past?” he asked. </p>
