Karnataka High Court declines to entertain petition on plea for separate flag for State

The High Court of Karnataka on Friday declined to entertain a PIL petition seeking a direction to the State government to decide the petitioner’s representation to have a separate flag for Karnataka.

The nature of the grievance raised in the petition neither falls in the realm of public interest litigation nor within the domain of the court’s jurisdiction, said a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Anjaria and Justice K.V. Aravind while terming the petition as misconceived.

The petitioner, Bimappa Gundappa Gadad of Belagavi, had stated in his petition that he had been giving representation to the authorities since 2014 to have a separate flag for the State and to take steps to hoist it on government buildings.

The petitioner had also stated that the then Advocate-General in 2015 had given his opinion to the government stating that there is no bar in law to have a separate flag for the State and the government formed a committee to make recommendations on having a separate flag.

However, the petitioner had complained that the decision or recommendation made by the committee is not available in the public domain. Nor did the government inform the petitioner on the issue. The petitioner had sought a direction to the government to submit the decision/recommendation of the committee before the court and pass a speaking order on his representation to have a separate flag.

Published - October 25, 2024 08:20 pm IST