From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Apr 8: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has leveled a serious charge of accusing Narendra Modi regime of “deliberately submitting false information” to the Supreme Court on Karnataka’s petition under Article 21 seeking a direction to the Centre to release grants under the Disaster Management Fund towards drought relief.
“It is deplorable that the Union Government has submitted false information to the Supreme Court, attempting to deceive the court about the rightful drought relief that Karnataka is entitled to,’’ the Chief Minister said.
“Faced with continued delays by the Union Government in providing the rightful drought relief to Karnataka, our government was compelled to seek justice from the Supreme Court. During today’s hearing, the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the Karnataka Government is to blame for the delay in drought relief, suggesting a political motive behind it. This is highly condemnable,” he said.
The Chief Minister has in a press release on Monday, explained: “For drought relief, they (Karnataka) could have talked to us (Union Government). We know the timing of these petitions. Lordships may not issue notice, it also becomes a news," said the Solicitor General, attempting to shift the blame onto the Karnataka Government to cover up the Union Government's failures.”
Siddaramaiah pointed out that, “As I have repeatedly said over the past 2-3 months, our government had submitted to the Union Government in September 2023 itself, a memorandum including the details of the losses and the expected relief amount for the drought. “
“After that, I and Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda had met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi to appeal. Our Deputy Chief Minister too had separately met the Union Finance Minister. Despite this, the Union Finance Minister and the Home Minister shamelessly continue to falsely claim that the Karnataka Government has been late in submitting its request,” he said.
Today, the Union Government repeated this lie before the Supreme Court as well,” Siddaramaiah condemning the attempts to mislead the apex court by the Centre.
“The Supreme Court, taking into account the statement made by the Solicitor General of the Union Government, has postponed the case for two weeks. The Union Government is required to prepare its response before the next hearing,” he said.
He, however, warned: “Our fight against the injustice done by the Union Government in the provision of drought relief will continue not just on the streets but also in the courts. We will expose the lies of the Union Government one by one and reveal its true face to the people of the state.”