From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Dec 24: The proposed amendments to the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill, 2014, will enable the government to intervene in to affairs of Hindu religious Maths "only in exceptional circumstances."
"It may be noted that the proposed amendments provide for government intervention in only exceptional circumstances. It is not the intention of the government to interfere in the autonomy or management of the Maths," Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra said here on Tuesday in a four-page note.
The Bill was tabled in the legislature "fearing the Supreme Court’s strong observations" against the State Government, he said.
The State Government has to place before the Apex Court the actions it had taken to regulate Maths. The Apex Court has given six-weekstime to the State Government to respond, the official note explained.
The minister made it clear that the State Government has to clearly state its position in respect of Maths before the Supreme Court. The case will come up for hearing on January 13, 2015.
''The case is at the stage of final arguments and the state government has to necessarily articulate its position regarding the inclusion of Maths. This was the immediate reason for introduction of the amendments," Jayachandra said.
Briefing reporters after the decisions taken at the State Cabinet meeting, the Minister said that he had explained in the Cabinet about the necessity of the Bill.
In fact, the Justice Rama Jois Committee, which was appointed by the previous BJP regime, had made suggestions that were more stringent than those have been proposed now, he said.
The minister pointed out that the previous BJP Government had chosen Justice Rama Jois to be its Rajya Sabha member and consequently it was not fair to blame the State Government for acting on the Justice Rama Jois panel’s recommendations, especially when the intention was not to ''interfere’’ needlessly into the affairs of the Maths.