Cow slaughter ban bill passed in Council

DHNS

Bangalore 16 July 2010: The ruling BJP on Thursday succeeded in getting the controversial cow slaughter ban bill passed in the Legislative Council. The Bill prohibits sale, usage and possession of beef and restricts slaughter and transport of cattle in State. As per the Bill, the definition of cattle includes - cows and calves of she-bufalloes, bull, bullock and buffalo.

 

The Legislative Assembly has already passed the Bill. Now, the Government will have to send the Bill to the Governor for his consent. Taking advantage of the conundrum in the House following the Opposition parties’ protest, the ruling party tabled the controversial Bill and passed it with voice vote. In a House of 75 members, the BJP has 41 members. The first on the agenda of the Council was tabling the cow slaughter ban  bill.

 

When Animal Husbandry Minister Revu Naik Belamagi tabled the Bill for consideration, there was stiff opposition from the Congress and the JD(S) members from the well of the House. But without a debate the Bill was passed. The Opposition parties had been opposing the passage of the Bill citing it as anti-minorities and anti-dalit. While some of the agitating members tore the copies of the Bill, some raised slogans against the BJP.

 

The Bill will replace the existing Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act 1964. It will come into effect only after the assent of the Governor. All offences, in violation of the provisions, are cognisable and non-bailable. The offences may attract imprisonment for a term of seven years and a penalty upto Rs one lakh.
Addressing the media, JD(S) leader M C Nanaiah said the existing Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act 1964 was sufficient to safeguard the cattle breeds. 

Panchayat Raj Bill

The Council also passed the Karnataka Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2010 which offers 50 per cent reservation for women in gram panchayats, taluk panchayats and zilla panchayats. At present, 33 per cent of seats are reserved for women. The Bill allows use of electronic voting machines in elections to GPs, TPs, and ZPs. The Bill is yet to be tabled in the Assembly.

Assembly rushes through 6 bills amid Oppn

The Karnataka assembly on Thursday passed six bills amidst slogan shouting and tearing of copies of bills and other legislative papers by the protesting Congress and Janata Dal-Secular legislators who have been stationed inside the assembly premises for the fourth day demanding a CBI probe into illegal mining.
The assembly and legislative council proceedings have been stalled since Tuesday as the ruling Bharatiaya Janata Party (BJP) has rejected a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. The Congress-JDS combine has been on a 24-hour sit-in in the assembly since Monday night insisting on a CBI probe.

 

The opposition legislators have stayed put in the assembly, braving rodents, mosquitoes, and lack of soft beds as the ruling party showed no sign of accepting their demand to bring in the CBI to probe illegal mining and export, which the Congress claims is a Rs.60,000 crore (Rs.600 billion) scam.

 

The wood-paneled assembly and council are in the stately Vidhana Soudha or the state secretariat in the heart of Bangalore. The protesting legislators have been indulging in slogan shouting during the brief time the two houses meet, and spend the rest of the day in small talk, cracking jokes at BJP leaders, singing folk songs, dozing off in sofas and chairs and managing a few hours sleep in the night.

 

With morning coffee/tea to dinner inside the premises, the legislators briefly go back to their residences or their rooms in the nearby legislators’ home every morning to freshen up and return for a new round of slogan shouting and battling nocturnal creatures in the night.

 

The two houses began the 25-day session June 28 and are to approve the state budget, demands for grants various departments and appropriation bills. With no indication of the opposition relenting despite efforts by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, Home Minister V.S. Acharya and the presiding officers of the two houses, K.G. Bopaiah of the assembly and D.H. Shankara Murthy of the council, the government rushed through six bills in the assembly.

 

BJP sources said the government was thinking of adopting the same procedure on Friday to have the demands and appropriation bills passed, and adjourn the two houses sine die, which may force the opposition legislators to vacate the premises.

 

"A final decision, however, has not been taken," the sources said.