Karnataka to remain firm in its stand on border dispute with Maharashtra: H K Patil

Belagavi: Minister H.K. Patil asserted on Monday that the state would remain firm in its stand on the border dispute with Maharashtra at the Supreme Court hearing scheduled for April 1.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of experts here, the minister, who is in charge of the issue in Karnataka, said it would demand that the Centre either implement the Mahajan Commission report on the boundary dispute or maintain status quo on the row.

“If another state (Maharashtra) does not agree to abide by the Mahajan Commission report, the state government will not accept it, Moreover, the Constitution clearly says boundary disputes between the states had to be resolved by Parliament and not the court,” he argued.

“The state government and its legal team are fully prepared with all the required documents and information to make its stand clear to the court once the case comes up for hearing,” the minister said.

Recalling that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had held several meetings with litterateurs, leaders of various organisations and legal experts on the boundary dispute, he said he had collected vital information in the process. “We will carry out the legal battle in court using some of the information he has gained at such meetings and make the state's stand clear on the boundary issue,” Mr Patil explained, deploring that the boundary dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra was being raked up decades after reorganisation of the states by some leaders only for political gain.