D K Shivakumar in the Legislative Assembly. Photo supplied with the press statement.
Bengaluru: Karnataka will appoint senior lawyers to present the state’s position before the Supreme Court on the Centre’s notification concerning the Kasturirangan report, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar told the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.
He was responding to a question from Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka concerning the National Green Tribunal (NGT), according to the statement on his remarks.
The announcement sets out the government’s plan for legal representation. The statement does not name the lawyers or provide details of a Supreme Court filing.
Shivakumar explains his understanding of NGT direction
Shivakumar said that, according to the information available to him, the NGT had directed the Centre to take a decision on issuing a final notification in connection with implementation of the Kasturirangan report and to inform the tribunal after issuing it.
He said the tribunal had not referred to the states sharing the Western Ghats. This account of the tribunal’s direction was given by the Chief Minister in his Assembly reply.
State seeks scientific revision, Revenue Department survey
Shivakumar said Karnataka was not disrespecting the Kasturirangan committee’s recommendations on ecologically sensitive areas in the Western Ghats. Instead, the state was seeking a scientific revision keeping its interests in view.
He said concerns had been raised in the House that drone surveys could make all green areas appear alike. A survey through the Revenue Department would therefore be necessary, he said.
The remarks put the state’s proposed legal representation and its demand for a ground-level assessment at the centre of its response to the notification.
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