Madikeri: Kodava Samaja, Bengaluru has filed an impleading application in the Karnataka High Court against the Writ Petition filed by Captain (Rtd.) Yaladalu K. Chethan who has questioned the exemption to Kodavas and Jamma land holders in Kodagu district from obtaining a license to possess firearms under Section 3 and 4 of the Indian Arms Act, 1959.

The Kodava Samaja, Bengaluru represents all Kodava Samajas and has been authorised by the Federation of Kodava Samajas, Balugodu in Kodagu to initiate a legal battle against the Writ Petition. The Kodava Samaja has filed the impleading application through its legal team.

Yaladalu K. Chethan, son of Yaladalu D. Keshavananda has filed a Writ Petition in the High Court on Jan. 8, 2018 and the Court has posted the hearing after summer vacation.

In his petition, (WP No. 1386/2018), Chethan, a resident of R.T. Nagar in Bengaluru, claimed that the continuation of the exemption, granted to some class of persons by the British Government in pre-Independent India in furtherance of their divide-and-rule policy, was unconstitutional, as it was based on irrational, fictitious and discriminatory grounds, such as race and ancestral land tenure.

He claimed that the exemption granted to Jamma land holders and for the members of Kodava race under Section 3 and 4 of Indian Arms Act differentiates between communities living in a society and promotes disharmony.

The original petition (a Public Interest Litigation) was filed by Chethan in 2015 and the High Court had disposed it and asked the petitioner to submit a representation on his grievance about exemption to the Union Home Ministry. On its part, the Ministry had told the Court that the exemption provided to Kodavas was as per law.  

Not stopping at this, Chethan filed another Writ Petition in the High Court, questioning the arms exemption. The Kodava Samaja, Bengaluru in its impleading application, has prayed the Court to make it (Kodava Samaja) a party to the petition.

The impleading application has been signed by Bengaluru Kodava Samaja President Mandeyada Ravi Uthappa. Kalengada Sarojini Muthanna, Ithichanda M. Devaiah, Kangira S. Bheemaiah, Mallengada Gagan Ganapathy, Puliyanda Anu Chengappa, Karavattira T. Pemmaiah, Karnanda Rahul Cariappa, Kalengada M. Madaiah and Mukkatira M. Ashok are legal advisors and are representing Bengaluru Kodava Samaja in the Court.

Special privilege to own firearms: The special privilege to own firearms without license was granted to Kodavas by the British in recognition of their martial traditions. This was continued after independence by a notification issued by the Union govt. in 1963 which exempted “every person of (the) Coorg race and every Jamma land tenure holder in Coorg” from the Indian Arms Act. There was no curb on the privilege even after Coorg, which was a separate State earlier, merged with Karnataka.

A proposal to do away with the privilege under the Arms Act was made way back in 1964 by the Central government. But the move was dropped, apparently at the behest of Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa and the then Union Minister C.M. Poonacha.

In 1993, the Union govt. wanted to withdraw the privilege, but the Karnataka Government informed the Centre that there has been no misuse of the privilege.