I/II. 18 April 2011 PRESS RELEASE ON SALWA JUDUM MATTER
Justice Reddy to Chhattisgarh and Centre’s Counsel: How can Koya Commandos/SPOs be given police powers when they have no training in penal code or procedure; no training in what constitutes self defence, all they know is how to use arms • • For how long are they appointed? • How can the Centre support this, not just in Chhattisgarh but in other states too? They give 80% of the funding for this. This is a very serious matter • Why should an independent enquiry not be held into the burning, rapes and killings in Tademetla, Timapuram and Morpalli, and into the attack on Swami Agnivesh? The Salwa Judum matter was heard in Court 9 of the Supreme Court today by Justice Sudershan Reddy and Justice SS Nijjar. The petitioners were represented by Senior Counsel, Mr. Ashok Desai, the State of Chhattisgarh by Mr. Manish Singhvi. At the last hearing on April 15, Mr. Desai had argued that “it was high time that the Court gave a clear direction. After four years of the matter being before the Court and the Court giving repeated directions for the registration of FIRs and compensation, nothing had happened and there was fresh burning and attacks.” As usual, the Solicitor General had said “the matter is very worrying and I will take the matter up with the Centre. Give me a week’s time to do so.” Previously on the 6th Mr. Salve had assured the Court he would persuade the Chhattisgarh government to appoint a High Court judge to look into the Tadmetla incidents, and not just a district judge, and that he would enquire into the continuation of Kartam Surya as an SPO when a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against him. (It must be noted, however, that the affidavit filed on the 13th reflected no such powers of persuasion). Mr Desai said “while we do not doubt the bonafides of the lawyers, what happens to my poor clients in the meantime?” On the 15th, Justice Reddy asked what we would suggest, and Mr. Desai gave the names of 5 members who could potentially be part of an independent monitoring committee. Since Mr. Salve had not come in time, the Chhattisgarh counsel succeeded in getting the matter postponed to Monday the 18th. On Monday the 18th, a junior appearing for the Solicitor general, Mr. Gopal Subramanium, said he was ill and asked for time. (This is not the first time that the matter has been postponed due to the illness of the learned Solicitor General). The state of Chhattisgarh also asked for time again till Tuesday, but the Court insisted that it must be heard this week. Mr. Desai pointed out that none of the facts in our affidavits had been replied to, and there was an urgent need for a monitoring committee (names and ToR suggested attached). The Judge then told the Chhattisgarh counsel that their affidavit on the Koya Commandos was very unsatisfactory. The CG affidavit had said that 80% of the funding for SPOs came from the Centre, and SPOs were appointed in other states as well, and that there was no such thing as a Koya commando – they were SPOs. The Judges asked: • How can Koya Commandos/SPOs be given police powers when they have no training in penal code or procedure; • The Koya commandos say they fire in self-defence, but do they have any training in what constitutes self defence • All they know is how to use arms – that is not all there is to policing. They are hardly given any training • For how long are they appointed? Their appointments are extended from month to month. • How can the Centre support this, not just in Chhattisgarh but in other states too? They give 80% of the funding for this. This is a very serious matter. Mr. Desai then pointed out that some NGOs wanted to send relief to the villages and the state government should not stop them/should give them protection. The CG counsel said he would have to take instructions for this and demanded to know which NGOs they were, and also said that there were some NGOs which had defaulted financially, (and one of them could also be heard saying that they could not find Swami Agnivesh’s accounts on the internet)! Mr. Singhvi said that when Harsh Mander went, the state had to provide 700 police personnel to protect him. He also said the government had given Rs. 6000 to 250 families and Rs. 25,000 for Indira Awas, and that five out of six starvation deaths had been proved to be false. Mr. Desai pointed out that people cannot eat money and if NGOs want to provide grain there should be no objection. Even the judges asked what the objection could be, but the state remained adamant that they would only reply on Thursday. The judges asked Swami Agnivesh if he wished to speak, and he said the CG government was running a vilification campaign against him and that they had done nothing to SRP Kalluri, only transferred him. The judges asked the state government to respond to two specific issues: • How could the Koya Commandos/SPOs be armed and sent to fight without any proper training? • Why should an independent enquiry not be held into the burning, rapes and killings in Tademetla, Timapuram and Morpalli, and into the attack on Swami Agnivesh? The next hearing is on Thursday the 21. Nandini Sundar On behalf of the petitioners NB: Lead petition Kartam Joga in WP 119/2007 has been jailed since August 2010 on false charges of murder, bomb blast etc. There are five separate cases against him II. IN THE SUPREME COURT AT NEW DELHI CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 250 OF 2007 & WRIT PETITION (CRIMINAL) NO. 119 0F 2007 (UNDER ARTICLE 32 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA) NANDINI SUNDAR & ORS. V. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH And In The Matter Of : KARTAM JOGA AND ORS. V. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH ...RESPONDENTS Potential Names for Members of a Monitoring Committee 1. Chairperson: Justice AP Shah (rtd) 2. Dr. BD Sharma, Former Commissioner SC & ST & former Collector Bastar 3. Advocate Vrinda Grover (to supervise issues related to sexual violence against women and their rehabilitation) 4. Mr. Mihir Shah, Member, Planning Commission (in charge of Chhattisgarh) 5. Mr. K. Srinivasulu, Commissioner, Bastar Division (representing Chhattisgarh) The committee to be assisted by petitioner, Professor Nandini Sundar Terms of Reference of this Committee The Committee shall oversee comprehensive rehabilitation in Dantewada and Bijapur districts, including the registration of FIRs. For this purpose it may design a Rehabilitation Plan keeping in mind the model suggested by the petitioners in March 2010, ensure that it is widely publicized, and report to the Court on its implementation. In specific, the Committee will: 1. Ensure immediate relief and rehabilitation in the villages of Tadmetla, Timapuram and Morpalli, ensure that FIRs are registered for arson, rape and killing, and investigation/ prosecution begins. 2. Ensure within a time bound period that compensation of at least Rs. 4 lakh for all cases of death, rape, or incapacitation is given to all victims of violence since 2005, regardless of 3. Ensure the registration of FIR’s within a time bound period, including those pertaining to villages Tadmetla etc., as well as those on record in the NHRC annexures of B1-B4, I2, I4, as well as in Volumes I & II of WP 119/2007 and Annexures 6 (page 71-106), Annexure 9 (pages 127-158), Annexure 12-14, (pages 165-202), of March 2009 affidavit of WP 250/ 2007, and any other complaint that the public will give. 4. Supervise the setting up of dedicated courts to entertain grievances and prosecute crimes related to the conflict, with additional judicial staff 5. Ensure that the Salwa Judum camps are disbanded within a time bound period and those of their inhabitants who wish to return, restored in their villages 6. Initiate process of ensuring return and comprehensive rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons in Andhra Pradesh to their respective villages. 7. Ensure that all schools/ashrams are vacated by 18.5.2011, and handed back to the school 8. Ensure that the process of restoring essential services like PDS, schools, anganwadi and health workers to villages is immediately started, a survey carried out of property losses, and compensation given, within a time bound period. This can be based on a systematic survey and the services of National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) or TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) can be used for this purpose. The Committee shall function independently and periodically report to this Hon’ble Court on action taken. The funds for this committee may come from the central government. The state government must be directed not to obstruct the work of the committee including its free travel to villages, and to provide all possible assistance. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
