The Legislative Assembly on Monday passed, amid pandemonium, the Karnataka Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-offenders, Gamblers, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Slum-Grabbers and Video or Audio Pirates (Amendment) Bill, 2014, without a discussion.
Moving the Bill, Home Minister K.J. George requested the House to pass the Bill that will now include “acid attackers, bootleggers, depredator of environment, digital offenders, drug offenders, gamblers, goondas, immoral traffic offenders, land-grabbers, money launderers, sexual predators and video or audio pirates” under it.
The Bill includes, under ‘depredators of environment’, offences in sand mining or quarrying. The government had promised, during the debate on escalation in sexual offences in Karnataka, that sexual predators would be brought under the Act, which has been done in this amendment.
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Deputy Speaker N.H. Shivashankar Reddy, who was in the chair, declared that the Bill had been passed even as the Bharatiya Janata Party members shouted slogans in the well of the House. They were demanding a CBI probe into the de-notification of land in Arkavathi Layout.
Meanwhile, the Janata Dal (Secular), led by its leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, also demanded constitution of a House panel to probe into the encroachment of 350 tanks in and around Bangalore by land sharks. All JD(S) members displayed pictures of the tanks that were encroached upon.
The Assembly also passed the Karnataka Souharda Cooperative (Amendment) Bill, 2014, moved by Minister for Cooperation H.S. Mahadeva Prasad.
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Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar said the two Bills were not part of Monday’s agenda. He also alleged that the entire proceedings was “illegal” as the House was not in order and whatever the Ministers and the Chair said, could neither be heard nor recorded due to the melee.