New Delhi, Sep 1 The Maharashtra government on Tuesday sought an early hearing in the Supreme Court on its 2004 lawsuit pertaining to its long-standing border dispute with Karnataka over 865 Marathi-speaking villages and towns which are being administered by the neighbouring state.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was urged by the counsel for Maharashtra that the pleadings in the case are complete and it should be listed for hearing now.
Eight hundred and sixty-five villages having Marathi speaking people are in Karnataka and this is against the principle based on which states were reorganised on the ground of languages, the counsel said.
The CJI said he would examine the case.
“I cannot assure a listing,” he added.
Marathi-speaking villages and towns include Belagavi (Belgaum), Karwar, and Nipani and they are currently administered by Karnataka.
Maharashtra filed an original suit in the Supreme Court challenging Karnataka's control and the provisions of the 1956 law.
Under the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, state boundaries were redrawn along linguistic lines. Belagavi was incorporated into the erstwhile Mysore state (now Karnataka) due to a Kannada plurality, while adjacent Marathi areas remained in Maharashtra.
