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It has been clarified by S Asker Ali, Secy IPR & District Collector, Lakshadweep that the news about shifting of jurisdiction from Kerala to Karnataka is baseless & is devoid of truth, ANI reported.

"There's no proposal of Lakshadweep Administration to shift its legal jurisdiction from Kerala High Court to Karnataka HC," said the Collector.

Recently, news surfaced across multiple platforms that Lakshadweep Administration, which has been facing widespread protests over some of its policies had been mooting a proposal to shift legal jurisdiction over the islands from Kerala High Court to Karnataka High Court.

After the news was shared across platforms, Mr. Kanchan Gupta, Senior Adviser, MIB was quick to point out that the news doing the rounds was fake, adding that it had been countered as baseless by the Collector of Lakshwadeep.

It is important to point out that as per Article 241 of the Constitution of India, High Court jurisdictions are only changeable through an act of the parliament.

The so called move for altering the Union Territory's jurisdiction comes in light of numerous petitions before the Kerala High Court against the new administrator of Lakshadweep, Praful Patel, regarding the proposed Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation, Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation (Goondas Act) and Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulations, which inter alia, introduces a ban on beef on the island.