Property rased for 'anti-India slogans': SC seeks Maharashtra body's reply on contempt plea
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday directed a Maharashtra authority to respond to a man's plea for initiating contempt action against it after he and his family members were booked by police and his properties were demolished for allegedly raising anti-India slogans during a cricket match.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih issued the notice and posted the hearing after four weeks.
The petitioner, who hails from Sindhudurg district in the state, has claimed his house and shop were demolished on February 24 following an FIR against him, his wife and his 14-year-old son for allegedly raising anti-India slogans during the India-Pakistan Champions Trophy match, which India won the previous day.
The plea, filed by Kitabulla Hamidulla Khan, sought directions for initiating contempt proceedings against the chief officer and administrator of the Malvan Municipal Council arguing the action was in violation of the apex court's November 13, 2024 verdict on demolition of properties.
The top court judgment laid down pan-India guidelines and barred demolition of properties without a prior showcause notice and 15 days' time to the aggrieved party to respond.
The plea, filed through advocate Fauzia Shakil, said the case illustrated an "egregious contempt" aside from how the state machinery violated the guidelines with impunity.
The FIR alleged at around 9.15 pm when the complainant was going to his friend's house, the petitioner's son raised an anti-India slogan while watching the cricket match, the plea said.
The petitioner and his minor son were taken to the police station at midnight and the boy was allowed to go after four-five hours, it added.
While the petitioner and his wife were sent to jail, the plea said the authorities on February 24, demolished his tin shed scrap shop and house calling them illegal structures.
"The action of the civic authorities is arbitrary, illegal, and malafide. It is relevant to note that in the process of demolition, the municipal officers also damaged a vehicle of the petitioner," it added.
Though the man and his wife were granted bail on February 25 by a judicial magistrate, the plea said the chain of events clearly depicted the demolition action was punitive.
"The time gap between the petitioner and his family members being arraigned as an accused and demolition of the scrap shop and home makes it apparent that the punishment of demolition inflicted by the respondent contemnor and other officials was inflicted on account of them being arraigned as an accused in a frivolous case filed by the complainant," it claimed.
The right to housing or shelter is a fundamental right as held by the apex court in several judgments and forms an integral part of the rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, the plea added.
"The state and its officials cannot take arbitrary and excessive measures against the accused or the convict without following the due process as sanctioned by law," the plea said.
Saying the bulldozer demolishing a building was a "chilling sight" especially when the authorities failed to follow the basic principles of natural justice and acted without adhering to the principle of due process, the plea called it a "lawless state of affairs".
The petitioner, therefore, sought a direction to the authority and its officials concerned to restore the petitioner's property and pay "exemplary compensation" to him.
The plea also sought prosecution of those responsible for the demolition and violating the directions of the apex court.
While passing the verdict on demolition of properties, the apex court on November 2024 clarified the directions won't apply to unauthorised structures in a public spaces such as roads, streets, footpaths, abutting railway lines or a river or water bodies apart from cases where there was a court order for demolition.
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Internal reservation: Karnataka govt to go for survey of SCs to gather empirical data
Bengaluru, Mar 27 (PTI): Accepting Justice H N Nagmohan Das Commission's interim report, the Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday decided to go for a survey of Scheduled Castes (SCs) in the state, to decide on internal reservation among them.
The one-man commission of the retired High Court judge submitted the interim report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah earlier in the day, just ahead of the Cabinet meeting.
The government has been under pressure from SC communities and from within the ruling Congress party to implement internal reservation at the earliest, for which empirical data is needed, and the government has decided to go by the recommendation of the commission to gather the data.
The internal reservation is aimed at slicing up the 17 per cent reservation matrix given to 101 scheduled castes.
"The Cabinet has accepted the interim report submitted by Justice Nagmohan Das Commission," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said.
Briefing reporters about the Cabinet's decision, he said to ensure that the internal reservation process happens at a fast pace, it has been decided to request Justice Nagmohan Das Commission to oversee new survey and gathering of data.
"The commission has suggested that 40 days is required for the survey to be completed. Naturally it may take five to ten days for preparation, so it has been decided to extend the commission's tenure by two months, for it to complete the process and submit the report within 60 days--two months," he added.
Noting that the commission has made four major recommendations, Patil said they include conducting a fresh survey and gathering of data for scientific classification of sub castes among SCs in Karnataka; and that, using advanced scientific and technological devices, a new survey can be done in 30-40 days.
"It has also recommended for preparing a required questionnaire for a fresh survey, and constituting a high-level committee to oversee mobilisation of resources for the survey is to be conducted, and training of the staff required for it; and provisioning among the sub castes of SCs from quantum of reservation that is available by following the criterion mentioned in the report, on the basis of the data gathered from the new survey."
A section of SCs, especially 'SC Left', have been demanding internal reservation, alleging that only a few influential sub-castes were taking away a majority of the benefits, while many communities were still marginalised.
The government, in November last year, appointed Justice Nagmohan Das to head a commission to recommend internal reservation among SCs, after the Supreme Court last year allowed the states to provide internal reservation, and the State Cabinet agreed to implement internal reservation.
In a landmark verdict delivered by the Supreme Court on August 1 last year, it held that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within the SCs, which form a socially heterogeneous class, for granting reservation for the uplift of castes that are socially and educationally more backward.
Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa, responding to a question, said survey can be done in 40-45 days using advanced technologies. There are 6,000 panchayats and more than 300 urban local bodies, and a host of officials to manage things, he said.
"The Chief Secretary is holding a meeting with top officials in this regard, and the Cabinet has asked them to do it on a war footing, under the Chief Secretary's suprivision," he said.
Rejecting any "time pass or dodging of time" with the fresh survey, Mahadevappa said the government and the ruling Congress party are committed to providing internal reservation among SCs.
"If the data is scientifically accurate, there won't be any problem in the future. In Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana and other states they (internal reservation decisions) have landed in court, it should not happen. Things should be pucca and benefit people. That's our intention," he added.
To a question on the need for a fresh survey, and whether the Census data was not available, Mahadevappa said, "Four major groups among SCs are not there in the census. If we don't include that data, it may be challenged in the court of law. That's the reason why we want a fresh census within stipulated time."
Earlier in the day, Justice Nagmohan Das, after submitting the interim report to the chief minister, said, "After in-depth study for more than two months by me and my team, I have submitted a 104-page report. The report was not submitted hurriedly. The government in fact has not asked us to submit the interim report, we have voluntarily given it."
Asked by reporters whether the interim report was a delay tactic, the retired judge said he doesn't think so. "Giving a permanent solution to them (those waiting for internal reservation) is my intention..."
