Victim cannot appeal against inadequate sentence: SC

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September 4, 2020

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The Supreme Court held that the victim cannot prefer an appeal against a conviction basis inadequacy of sentence imposed. The bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy while upholding Delhi High Court judgment dismissing an appeal filed by a victim, held that no appeal can be maintained by the victim under section 372 of CrPC.

The accused was convicted by the trial court under sections 364A [kidnapping for ransom], 302 [murder] and 201 [Causing disappearance of evidence] of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and was sentenced for life. The deceased boy’s father, who was the complainant in the case sought death penalty for the convict under provisions of section 372 of CrPC.

The Delhi high court, against which this appeal was filed, held that “An appeal by the victim under Section 372 CrPC, is not maintainable if it only challenges the order on sentence on the ground that it imposes inadequate punishment.” The high court had further stated that an appeal is a creature of a statue and cannot lie under any inherent power.

The high court further observed that the proviso to Section 372 CrPC (no appeal to lie, unless otherwise provided) confers upon the victim, the right to prefer an appeal against the order of the Criminal Court in the following three instances: (a) Acquittal of the accused person; (b) Conviction of the accused person for a lesser offence; and (c) Imposition of inadequate compensation.

The counsel for the petitioner contended before the Supreme court that “there is no reason to restrict the scope of appeal only for a lesser offence but not for lesser sentence”. The bench held that victim’s right of appeal is restricted to three eventualities, namely, acquittal of the accused; conviction of the accused for lesser offence; or for imposing inadequate compensation. Hence, the bench, finding no merit in the appeal, upheld the Delhi High Court order and dismissed the appeal.

The Supreme Court order may be read here.

Victim’s right to appeal

Section 372 of CrPC along with the proviso reads as follows:

“372. No appeal to lie unless otherwise provided. – No appeal shall lie from any judgment or order of a Criminal Court except as provided for by this Code or by any other law for the time being in force:

Provided that the victim shall have a right to prefer an appeal against any order passed by the Court acquitting the accused or convicting for a lesser offence or imposing inadequate compensation, and such appeal shall lie to the Court to which an appeal ordinarily lies against the order of conviction of such Court.”

The right of the victim to appeal gets limited here but the state still has powers in this regard. Under section 377 of the CrPC, the state can move an appeal on the ground of inadequacy of sentence but the victim has not been accorded a similar right. This amendment was brought in, in 2009 after the famed Best Bakery case, fought by the Citizens for Justice and Peace, supporting star witness Zahir Shaikh.

Section 372 of CrPC was amended in December 2009 stating that the victim shall have a right to prefer an appeal against any order passed by the court acquitting the accused or convicting for a lesser offence or imposing inadequate compensation.

The meaning of conviction of lesser offence has been explained by the Supreme Court in Mallikarjun Kodagali vs The State Of Karnataka (decided on October 12, 2018). The court explained,

“any order passed by a Court where the accused is convicted of a lesser offence but the victim feels that he should have been convicted for a higher offence. Obviously, the appeal lies against the acquittal of the accused for a higher offence”

“Before the amendment to CrPC section 372, the remedy of appeal was provided under CrPC section 378 and the same could be filed on a police report only at the instance of district Magistrate or state government. The aggrieved victim of complainant had no right to appeal and he could only prefer a revision… the revision would be a cumbersome process as the revision court has no powers to convict an accused in case it finds that the latter has been wrongly acquitted. At the most it could remand the case back to the trial court. this involved wastage of time and money – as has been observed by the Law Commission on whose recommendation an exception was added to CrPC section 372, providing right of appeal to the victim against any order passed by the court acquitting the accused or conviction for a lesser offence or an inadequate compensation,” Advocate Aniket Nikam told TOI.

In February 2020, Bombay High Court affirmed victim’s right to appeal against an order of acquittal as being absolute and unfettered under section 372 of CrPC.

In Mallikarjun Kodagali vs The State Of Karnataka, the Supreme Court in 2:1 majority judgment stated that section 372 of CrPC has to be given “realistic, liberal, progressive” interpretation to benefit the victim of an offence. It also held that “there is no doubt that the proviso to Section 372 of the CrPC must be given life, to benefit the victim of an offence” and also referred to the United Nation’s General Assembly’s resolution to hold that besides the State, the victims are also entitled to appeal against the acquittal of the accused. Upholding the right of the victim to prefer an appeal against acquittal, the court held, “Access to mechanisms of justice and redress through formal procedures as provided for in national legislation, must include the right to file an appeal against an order of acquittal”.

Hence, when it comes to right of victim to appeal, the courts have so far held that the victim need not seek leave to appeal to a higher court in cases of acquittal, conviction on lesser offence and inadequate compensation. The ambit of lesser offence has not been read into or expanded into including appeal against inadequate sentence and that right lies only with the state government.

Why do investigations into the Delhi riots appear to be a conspiracy in itself?

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September 4, 2020

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Delhi Police is attempting to criminalise a democratic and protest, say, anti-CAA-NRC-NPR activists, as it continues to be linked to, and blamed for instigating the communal riots of North East Delhi that took place in February. While scores of activists have been arrested, remain in jail, and are regularly called in for questioning on their participation in the anti-CAA-NRC-NPR protests, even though the investigations are on the cases related to the communal riots, none of the political leaders whose controversial speeches are a matter of public record, have even been mentioned in any official investigation. None of the politicians have even been called for questioning, or asked to join any ongoing investigation into the riot cases.

Activists, writers, lawyers, university professors, scholars who were an active part of the anti CAA movement held a press conference in solidarity with those who have been arrested, named in first information reports, or been called for extensive questioning and investigations. Activists such as Harsh Mander, Kawalpreet Kaur, Umar Khalid, Prof Apporvanand, etc have all been made to face tough questioning by the Delhi Police. While politicians such as Kapil Mishra and Anurag Thakur, whose controversial speeches circulated widely before the Delhi riots have not even been mentioned in any police report.

This, stated the activists, is an attempt at whitewashing facts and steering the narrative of the sequence of events in another direction. They state that Delhi Police believes that there was a conspiracy behind the February communal violence in Delhi, however it appears that the “actual conspiracy” was a very different one from the one which Delhi Police is propagating.” The activists alleged that the investigation into the Delhi 2020 carnage itself is a conspiracy.

“No major episode of communal violence is spontaneous: it is always planned, organised and facilitated. Such violence requires first the creation of hatred. In Delhi we saw the build-up during the Delhi elections of a climate of hatred spawned by hate speech by senior leaders targeting the protestors against CAA NRC NPR – unprecedented level of communal venom in any election in Delhi,” said Harsh Mander, who was once an IAS officer and has seen how riots can be controlled if the administration is willing, adding, “the critical factor in any riot conspiracy is the role of the state, and particularly the police – no riot can go on for more than a few hours except if the government wishes for it to do so.” He alleged that there is a “complicit partisan role of the police in the Delhi riots as was recalled by testimonies of survivors recalling “the police enabling, encouraging and actually indulging in hate violence”.

The conspiracy behind the Delhi violence he said is this “effort to punish and crush the largest non-violent protests in independent India.” According to Mander, who too has been questioned by the police, “every day the Special Branch which normally investigates grave crimes like terror is busy summoning mostly young people, and sometimes seniors, grilling them ,intimidating them, and sometimes as Umar has testified, making them create false evidence.”

Umar Khalid, the former JNU scholar, had been called for questioning twice in two months and had this week, shared how he was told that another person being questioned was presented by a prepared statement by the police, to implicate him.

Khalid said the process began in March when a video clip of a few seconds from a long speech he had made on civil rights was shared out of context, by the right wing IT cells. The clip was then picked up, and still reported out of context with none of the media having seen the full speech where he spoke about non violence and satyagraha as forms of protest. The clip was shared by the RW on March 3 and an FIR was lodged against Khalid on March 6, filled by a ‘secret informer’. “there is a chronology to this investigation”, said Khalid. He asked the Delhi Police how they missed the rally by Kapil Mishra on December 20, 2019, even though section 144 was in place and gatherings banned in Delhi. “Why is the Delhi Police silent?” he asked.

Kawalpreet Kaur, AISA leader and activist who too had been questioned and her phone seized, said the police was attempting to spread fear in students activists with such actions. The attempt she said was to curb dissent but added that student activists must stand up to that fearlessly, “We must remain united.” This was echoed by Khalid, and Mandar too, who said that there was a need to stand in solidarity with those, “languishing in prison for months without bail in the name of this so-called conspiracy We are gathered here today above all in the defence and solidarity with these young people.”

Mandar added that all activists now facing Delhi Police action now “did participate in the non-violent movement against CAA NRC NPR, and are proud to have done so. During the protests some WhatsApp groups were made. Now every word exchanged in these groups is being examined with a defective microscope by the police, their meaning and context deliberately and mischievously misinterpreted, the truth ripped into shreds and reimagined to create the mythology of a conspiracy of hate, violence and insurrection.”

He added that the protests, “were to uphold the Constitution, and the idea of an inclusive and humane country of equal citizenship, which is the proudest legacy of our freedom struggle. The young people and we protested because we love our country dearly, and we seek to make this country better for all its citizens, of every religion, caste, class and gender, by holding the state accountable to stand by its duties to the constitution. It is a travesty to describe this as a crime against the nation. The purpose of the state is transparent; to destroy the basic guarantees and freedoms of our constitution.”

He, and the other activists have stated strongly that the “effort of the Indian state, facilitated by the Delhi Police, is to crush our voices, our dissent, and our struggles to uphold our constitution. We declare here – and hope those holding highest office in the country hear us loud and clear – that the government will never succeed in silencing us, and will never succeed in taking away from us the dream we inherited from our freedom struggle, of together building a country which is just, and equal, and kind.”

The following is the entire press statement released by the activists:

Delhi jails most crowded; number of unnatural deaths on the rise: Prison report 2019

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September 4, 2020

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The number of undertrial prisoners still considerably overshadows the number of convicts in Indian jails. In 2019 too, 69.05% undertrials were imprisoned while 30.11% were convicts and 0.67% were detenus reveals the 25th edition of the Prison statistics in India report released by the NCRB

Prisons

The prisons in India have always been over crowded, with the increasing number of under trials housed there. There has been an increase in number of prisons in one year i.e. from 1,339 prisons in 2018 to 1,350 prisons in 2019, India has built 11 prisons in that year. Yet, the occupancy rate keeps piling up. The occupancy rate is 118.5% in 2019 which was at 117.6% in 2018. In India’s 1,350 prisons, there are currently 4.7 lakh prisoners. Delhi has reported the highest occupancy rate (174.9%) followed by Uttar Pradesh (167.9%) and Uttarakhand (159.0%).

The 25th edition of the Prison Statistics in India report, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) that provides data on prisons, prisoners and prison infrastructure was released this week. The report contains data compiled from prison Head-quarters in each state, except West Bengal, from where they have not been given any data since 2017.

Rajasthan has the highest number of prisons at 144 followed by Tamil Nadu (141), Madhya Pradesh (131), Andhra Pradesh (106), Karnataka (104) and Odisha (91).

Central Jails have the highest capacity of inmates (1,77,618) followed by the District Jails (capacity of 1,58,986 inmates) and the Sub Jails (capacity of 45,071 inmates)

Prisoners

The number of undertrial prisoners still considerably overshadows the number of convicts in jails. In 2019, 69.05% undertrials were imprisoned while 30.11% were convicts and 0.67% were detenus.

As compared to 2018, there has been a 3.32% increase in number of convicts in 2019 and a 2.15% increase in number of undertrials. Uttar Pradesh has reported the maximum number of undertrials (22.2%, 73,418 undertrials) in the country followed by Bihar (9.5%, 31,275 undertrials) and Maharashtra (8.3%, 27,557 undertrials).

Notably, the number of detenus has seen the highest jump from 2018 data. There has been an increase by 35.19% in number of detenus lodged in jails. Tamil Nadu has reported the maximum number of detenus (38.5%, 1,240) in the country followed by Gujarat (21.7%, 698) and Jammu & Kashmir (12.5%, 404).

A total of 400 prisoners have been sentenced to capital punishment, out of which 121 prisoners have been sentenced in 2019 alone. Further, among 1,44,125 convicts, 53.54% (77,158) have been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Among all undertrials, 74.08% (2,44,841) have been confined for up to 1 year. There are, however, undertrials who have spent more time in prison 13.35% (44,135) have been confined for 1-2 years while 6.79% (22,451) have been confined for 2-3 years and 4.25% (14,049) have been in prison for 3-5 years.

Deaths

The total number of deaths has decreased only marginally, by 3.79%, compared to 2018. There were 1,845 deaths that took place in 2018 compared to 1,775 deaths in 2019. However, the number of un-natural deaths have increased by 10.74% from 149 in 2018 to 165 in 2019.

Among the 165 un-natural deaths of inmates, 116 inmates have committed suicide, 20 inmates died in accidents, 10 inmates were murdered by inmates and 1 inmate died due to assault by outside elements during 2019. For a total of 66 inmate deaths, cause of the death is not yet known.

The complete report may be read here.

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How many rapes and murders will it take before the UP govt takes action?

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September 4, 2020

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Image: AFP

Uttar Pradesh is now regularly in the news as the state’s children, especially those from economically weaker families are falling victims to rapists and murders. The third case, in just three weeks, has been reported from Mathiya village in Singahi block of Lakhimpur Kheri district. The brutalised body of a toddler was found in sugarcane fields on Thursday.

The 3-year-old was raped and murdered, and her body found a day after she had been reported missing. The truly indicting aspect of this is that this was the third such incident reported from this district in UP. She isthe latest, and the youngest victim.

In any other state, and during any other time, child rights workers, civil society activists, and perhaps even the Minister for women and child development, would have pushed oliticians across parties and taken to the streets demanding justice. They would have named the victims ‘UP’s Nirbhaya’ or some such protest title and would have even asked whether the ‘Beti Bachao’ slogans of the Union Government meant anything outside of being a propaganda tool.

However, these are not normal times, and most politicians and activists are citing Covid-19 protocols as reasons for not protesting. Off the record, some have even admitted to the sense of fear amongst activists, who are increasingly being targeted if they dare to question, or speak against the government or the police.

Criminals are however not scared of the government, however, and this brutal rape and murder of a child, a toddler will unfortunatley not be the last, neither in the state where the government had claimed to come down hard on criminals, nor in the country for that matter. The UP government has received much acclaim from the centre as the state with the ‘best chief minister in Adityanath!

It may be recalled that in the same district of Lakhimpur Kheri, a 13-yr-old girl was raped, murdered on August 14, a 17-yr-old girl raped, murdered on August 26. Now a 3-yr-old girl’s rape and murder has been reported on September 3. Disturbing visuals of the child’s body lying in the middle of a field thick and lush with tall sugarcane crop, like that of a broken little bird, were shared on social media.

We shall not do that here, but it is important to repeat that the crime rate in Uttar Pradesh is on the rise. These are the reported cases of sexual assault, mostly because the victims have been murdered, and bodies found. There may still be scores of cases of sexual abuse, especially of minors across gender, which are going unreported.

Politician and activist Subhashini Ali pointed out how despite all this Adityanath was still being hailed as the ‘Best Chief Minister’.

IN THE LAND OF THE BEST CHIEF MINISTER 3-Year-Old Raped, Killed In UP, Third Incident In District In 20 Dayshttps://t.co/34CjE9PurA
— Subhashini Ali (@SubhashiniAli) September 4, 2020

The local police had initially suspected this to be a case of murder, however, a panel of three doctors conducted an autopsy and confirmed rape, reported News18. It added that autopsy report of the child has confirmed rape. Senior police officials inspected the crime spot and later confirmed that the three-year-old girl found dead in a sugarcane field in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri on Thursday was raped and strangled to death, police said on Friday. The girl had gone missing on Wednesday and her dead body was found with injury marks on Thursday. The Police, however, were quick to add that the victim’s family had alleged that the child was killed as a result of ‘personal vendetta’. The investigations are still underway.

थाना सिंगाही क्षेत्रान्तर्गत 03 वर्षीय बालिका का शव मिलने की घटना के संबंध में पुलिस अधीक्षक महोदय खीरी की बाइट @dgpup @Uppolice @adgzonelucknow @Igrangelucknow @News18UP @bstvlive pic.twitter.com/Bgu31fmJAi
— KHERI POLICE (@kheripolice) September 3, 2020

This is the third incident of rape and murder in Lakhimpur Kheri district in the last 20 days, and the media including News18 reported that the family has alleged that their daughter was kidnapped and murdered due to an old enmity. The girl’s father, in his complaint, has named one Lekharam, from the same village, was what the police said according to the news report. A panel of three doctors conducted an autopsy on Thursday and confirmed strangulation and rape. “The postmortem report has confirmed rape. I am with family members right now. Seven of our teams are working on the case. I am myself going for combing in sugarcane fields and strict action will be taken against the accused,” Superintendent of Police, Satyendra Kumar Singh, had said.

In the murder and rape of the 13-year-old reported on August 14 from the Isanagar police station area, police say they arrested two men and had said that strict action will be taken against the accused under the National Security Act (NSA).

Recently, as the rise in crimes, including rapes and murders, were reported from Uttar Pradesh, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, who is in charge of parts of Uttar Pradesh for her party, had expressed concern over the situation. She shared a graphic in which she called a ‘crime metre’ to illustrate the massive number of crimes reported in the state over just two days. She listed crimes reported on Sunday, August 23, and Monday, August 24 in a tweet early on August 25. Most crimes listed were heinous, including murder, rape, kidnapping etc. The tweet went viral, and scores of police stations rushed to give their case updates.

Priyanka Gandhi had also written to Uttar Pradesh governor Anandibehn Patel expressing concern over the law and order situation, highlighting the lack of safety for women in the state. Priyanka Gandhi wrote: “Your Excellency the Governor, Uttar Pradesh. The situation of women safety in UP has become very bad. A girl from Lakhimpur was going to fill the online form. She was raped and brutally murdered. This is happening daily in UP now. Hope you understand its seriousness and take it into consideration.”

However, it is not yet known if any action has been taken on those complaints, or if the Adityanath government has reached out to the people with any assurances on the deteriorating issue of law and safety in the state.

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Justice for Namma Gauri

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September 4, 2020

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Journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh was snatched away from friends, family and her fellow journalists exactly three years ago. The fearless journalist was gunned down outside her home on September 5, 2017. Her killers, all affiliated to different right wing extremist organisations, wanted to silence her for her secular views and her stand against hardline groups that spread communal hate.

Since then, 17 people have been arrested in connection with the case, and one accused is still missing. At present, the case is before the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime (KCOCA) Court.

FIR and charges

The said incident came under the jurisdiction of Rajarajeshwari Nagar police station of Bangalore City and on the same day an FIR was registered under Sections 302, 120(B), 114, 118, 109, 201, 203, 204, 35 of I.P.C. and Sections 25(1), 25(1B), 27(1) of the Indian Arms Act, 1959 and Sessions 3(1)(i), 3(2), 3(3) and 3(4) of the COCA Act, 2000 ( Order No.C.R.M./01/158/BC/2017-18 dated 06-09-2017 of the D.G. and I.G.P.) as Crime No. 221/2017. Gauri Lankesh’s sister, Kavitha Lankesh is the first informant in the case.

The Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) began probing the case. Two chargesheets were filed in the case. The primary chargesheet was filed against KT Naveen Kumar, a 37-year-old member of the Hindu Yuva Sena on May 30, 2018. On November 23, 2018 the supplementary chargesheet running into 9,235 pages was filed. 18 people have reportedly been named in the chargesheet. These include shooter Parashuram Waghmare, masterminds Amol Kale, Sujith Kumar alias Praveen and Amit Digwekar. It was in this chargesheet that the Sanatan Sanstha was mentioned for the first time.

The chargesheet also mentions 26 other people who were on a hit list of sorts. These are eminent journalists, educationists and intellectuals who are perceived to be anti-Hindu by the Sanatan Sanstha. These include Siddharth Varadrajan (Editor, The Wire), journalist Antara Dev Sen, JNU professor Chaman Lal, Punjabi playwright Atamjit Singh among others.

Years of plotting

According to the Karnataka SIT, the plot to kill Lankesh was hatched a year before the assassination. Amol Kale, a former Hindu Janjagruti Samiti convener, allegedly hired killer Parshuram Waghmare. Waghamare was allegedly a member of the Sri Ram Sene. Kale took him to an isolated spot in Khanapur, Belgaum to practice using an air pistol. Waghmare allegedly did a recce of Lankesh’s house in Rajarajeshwari Nagar in July 2017. On September 5, he and another back-up gunman Ganesh Miskin arrived outside Lankesh’s house on a black motorcycle. Waghmare fired four times at Lankesh and the duo fled the scene.

However, the group responsible came together in 2010-11 suggesting that this was a wider conspiracy planned over a longer period aiming to eliminate more rationalists, journalists and activists. In a press release the SIT had said, “The investigation so far has revealed that all the 18 accused are active members of an organised crime syndicate. This syndicate was formed in 2010-11, under the leadership of Virendra Tawade alias Bade Bhaisaab. One former editor of ‘Sanatan Prabhat’ provided financial support to this syndicate. The members of this organisation targeted people who they identified to be inimical to their belief and ideology. The members strictly followed the guidelines and principles mentioned in ‘Kshatra Dharma Sadhana’, a book published by Sanatan Sanstha.” The statement further added, “In August 2016, in a meeting of the syndicate, the main members identified Ms. Lankesh as a “durjan” as told in the ‘Kshatra Dharma Sadhana’, based on her speeches and writings. They jointly hatched a conspiracy to murder her.”

Connection with other high-profile assassinations

The attack on Gauri Lankesh cannot be viewed in isolation. She was a journalist and a rationalist who had raised her voice against right-wing Hindutva extremists. Her assassination was along the lines of the cold-blooded murders of MM Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar.

Three of the accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case are also linked to the plot to kill anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar. Dabholkar was shot dead on August 20, 2013. The same weapon was used in both crimes according to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Sachin Andure, one of the alleged shooters of Dabholkar, was arrested by the CBI and has been remanded to judicial custody. Meanwhile, his co-accused Rajesh Bangera and Amit Digvekar have also been remanded to judicial custody. Bangera had allegedly provided weapons training to Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, the two men who allegedly shot Narendra Dabholkar. Meanwhile Digvekar had helped recon Dabholkar’s house and keep tabs on his movement and routine. Digvekar was also a ‘saadhak’ in the Sanatan Sanstha.

In January 2019, Gauri’s sister Kavitha, a filmmaker and poet, filed an intervention application in the MM Kalburgi murder case saying, “The Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Inspector General of Police (Karnataka) has been conducting the Investigation with great speed and urgency and moreover the entire Investigation has been committed to a Court though not yet completed. The SIT Investigation is being carried out with great pace and from January 2018 till date, 16 accused persons have been arrested and incriminating evidences have been unearthed by the SIT. Following this, even the preliminary and subsequent Charge Sheets have been filed.” Moreover, she has stated that “if at this advanced stage of the Investigation into the matter of the cold-blooded murder of the sister of the Applicant, any change is made or the Investigation is shifted to any other agency, the entire process would be de-railed.”

On February 26, 2019, the Supreme Court directed that the investigation into the killing of noted linguist and historian, MM Kalburgi be handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), Karnataka that was also investigating the Gauri Lankesh murder. Further, the SC bench headed by Rohinton Nariman also directed that the Dharwad bench of the Karnataka High Court will monitor the investigation.

The arrests

On March 2, 2018, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating Lankesh’s assassination made its first arrest, apprehending right-wing activist K. T. Naveen Kumar, of Maddur, who in 2015 founded the Hindu Yuva Sene. Kumar who reportedly confessed to Lankesh’s murder had previously been arrested in February 2018 in relation to a case involving illegal arms.

On May 30, 2018, when the SIT filed a 650-page chargesheet in the Lankesh murder case, KT Naveen Kumar was named in it. Kumar allegedly obtained the bullets that were used to kill Gauri Lankesh, and that he allegedly supplied logistical support to her killers and directed them to her residence and office in Bengaluru. It alleges that the bullets were from an ammunition store called Bangalore Armoury, and that Kumar purchased them around eight years ago. Syed Shabeer, who works at City Gun House in Kalasipalya, claimed to the SIT that he sold Kumar 18 bullets for Rs. 3,000 about eight years ago.

The SIT, in the chargesheet, stated, “The accused were angry with her for speaking against Hindu dharma, Gods of Hindu dharma and insulting Hindu dharma”. Kumar’s wife, Roopa C. N., gave the SIT a statement, which indicated that Kumar was associated with the Sanatan Dharma Sanstha, largely in 2017.

In late May 2018, the SIT arrested four more people with ties to right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha for a January 2018 conspiracy to kill K. S. Bhagwan. The four individuals also had ties to Sanatan Sanstha’s sister outfit, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), and were also connected to Kumar, in 2017 had attended multiple HJS meetings. The four individuals are named Amol Kale alias Bhaisab, an HJS activist from Maharashtra, Amit Degwekar alias Pradeep, a Sanatan Sanstha activist from Goa, Manohar Edave of Karnataka, and Sujeet Kumar alias Praveen, an activist with Sanatan Sanstha and the HJS from Mangalore.

On June 11, 2018 the sixth accused in the case, Parashuram Waghmare, 26, was arrested. On Thursday, June 14, police reportedly interrogated Waghmare and the previously arrested Amol Kale. Waghmare had allegedly claimed that Kale instructed him to carry out the killing, and gave him a country-made pistol.

Sharad Kalaskar was arrested on August 10, 2018 by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) after a tip off from the Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was probing the Gauri Lankesh murder case. The ATS claims that Kalaskar was also one of the two gunmen who shot and killed Narendra Dabholkar in August 2013. According to the ATS, the weapon used to kill Gauri Lankesh and other rationalists was also procured and manufactured by Kalaskar.

A note on how to make bombs was also recovered from him. Kalaskar was arrested along with Vaibhav Raut and Sudhanwa Gondhalekar from the Nallasopara home of Raut who is the convener of the Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti. 20 crude bombs and two gelatin sheets were recovered during this raid. Meanwhile, Gondhalekar is a member of Shiv Shivapratishthan Hindustan, an organisation run by none other than Shambhaji Bhide, one of the two main accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence.

In July 2019, Uma Devi, wife of slain rationalist MM Kalburgi identified the gunman who shot her husband. Earlier the SIT had arrested Praveen Chatur, a Belgavi resident who had allegedly ferried this gunman in the Kalburgi murder. While police had initially suspected Amit Baddi, a friend of Ganesh Miskin, of being the biker, sketches prepared by police artists did not match eye witness descriptions. When the SIT probed the matter again, interrogation of Amol Kale pointed them towards Chatur. Chatur was also wanted in a petrol bomb attack on a theater screening Padmavat in Belgavi in January. He has now turned state’s witness in the Gauri Lankesh case. In his statement he has reportedly admitted to attending training camps in Jalna and Mangaluru.

Rishikesh Dewarkar was the last one to be arrested in the case so far. Dewarkar who also went by the alias Rajesh was arrested from Katras town in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand in January 2020. He had been on the run ever since the assassination and had been laying low, working at a petrol pump in Katras for several months under an assumed identity.

What’s next

Last year, in an exclusive interview to CJP, Special Public Prosecutor S Balan had described the case investigations as meticulous. “From the logistics behind the crime, to collection and recovery of every piece of evidence, the SIT investigation has left no loophole,” he said. He is of the opinion that if the state government were to constitute a Special Court that can hear the four connected matters from day to day so that the trial(s) can be concluded from six months to a year as same set of people and organisations are accused in all cases. “There are several precedents for these related cases to be appointed to a Special Court. This would ensure that the case proceeds with speed and efficiency since otherwise this is a busy court hearing other matters too,” he said.

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Truth prevails! Maha govt to declare parts of Aarey as reserved forest

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September 4, 2020

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Image Courtesy:oneindia.com

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday decided to declare 600 acres of Aarey land as ‘reserved forests’ by applying Section 4 of the Indian Forest Act, much to the joy of forest rights activists in Mumbai.

As per Section 4, a Forest Settlement-Officer will be appointed for the 600-acres of reserved forest to look into the nature, extent and existence of rights of any person living in the area.

According to a Twitter thread by Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray, the decision will be carried out in two phases, the first of which deals with the 600 acres of intact forests and the second phase will consider additional, open forest land.

Although neither of these phases will consider the metro car shed near the Mithi river, the news has overjoyed activists who have been fighting for forest rights for the last seven years. However, in the past different people from various walks of life have come together to protect this green-pocket of the metropolitan city. Youngsters have even sung songs about the need to protect this land.

“If Covid wasn’t here we would have gone out and celebrated the government decision,” said Adivasi activist Prakash Bhoir who lives in Aarey forest.

He thanked the Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray, for assuring the protection of Adivasi rights and allowing them to continue living in the forest. He hoped that the government would include the 27 Adivasi settlements in the 600-acres of land.

“I always say that any decision to protect Mother Earth is always correct. After last year’s tree-cutting I had thought that nature would never forgive us. Hopefully now, we will be forgiven,” said Bhoir, referring to the cutting of 2,700 Aarey trees on October 4, 2019 to make way for the Mumbai Metro project. As many as 29 people were arrested at that time for protesting against the felling of trees.

Young activist Manisha Dhinde, who was among those arrested last year, also celebrated the State government’s decision of reserved forest land.

“Last year, I got an ATKT because I was fighting for my homeland. Today, after hearing the government’s decision I feel my sacrifice was justified,” said Dhinde.

She said she was happy that Thackeray had promised to protect Adivasi rights, allowing residents to do farming on their land. She hoped that the decision would also help with the metro car shed issue.

Member of Aarey Conservation Group Amrita Bhattacharjee reinforced this optimism, arguing that there is no need for a metro car shed in an area that has now been declared as a forest. She said that such a construction project could lead to flooding since the metro carshed land serves as the catchment area for Mithi river and Oshiwara river. Moreover, as per the Forest Rights Act, any area declared as a forest gives land rights to the Adivasis living there.

“What we need to see now is how this decision is implemented. Development doesn’t just mean concretisation,” she said.

She said that the recent pandemic has reminded everyone about the importance of green spaces in the city. The citizens should therefore demand forest protection from the administration. Democracy is after all, for the people, by the people and of the people, she said.

When asked about the remaining 700 acres of land that has not been declared as a forest area she said that the second phase of the initiative will look into it.

Director for Vanashakti Stalin D. agreed with her, stating that the phasing intended to protect the ‘good’ land.

“While conducting surveys on Aarey forest, they saw that 600 acres of land was still good and untouched by development activities. Therefore, the first phase immediately protects that land. The next phase will look into the degraded forest area,” said Stalin.

Unlike Dhinde and Bhattarcharjee, Stalin said the decision could not help with the metro shed issue since that dealt with the catchment area near Mithi river. Nevertheless, he applauded the decision and the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.

He said that the State government had long refused to acknowledge Aarey as a forest. Even after the Supreme Court verdict last year stating the same, the government had not acknowledged the forest. With the recent decision, he felt the State has finally faced the truth.

“After being trolled, abused and accused for years by paid misguided elements of the previous Govt, this piece of happy news is welcome to us! Seven years of effort has not been in vain after all. The Metro car shed issue still remains unsolved but we are hopeful it being resolved soon. Rejoice Mumbai, you just got news of 600 acres of Forest being recognised as your asset. Lots of work to be done but for now, we savour this moment of happiness. AAREY IS A FOREST … period,” he said.

Riot book authors meet Delhi Police Commissioner, file complaint against Bloomsbury and others

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September 3, 2020

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Image Courtesy: thewire.in

Authors of upcoming book Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story, met Delhi Police Commissioner on Wednesday and handed over complaint against the book’s former publisher Bloomsbury allegeding cheating, breach of trust and invoked multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code. The authors, led by Advocate Monica Arora, met the commissioner in his office at the Police Headquarters and handed over their letter of complaint where they have also named activists, writers and journalists, seeking that they too be investigated under the IPC sections.

The, now Garuda Publisher affiliated authors have alleged that Bloomsbury publishers, who had eventually refused to publish the one-sided book, and the other writers they have named, who are based across the globe, have indulged in “misappropriation of property, illegal receipt and retention of stolen property, criminal intimidation, statements creating and promoting enmity between classes etc.” They have named professor Nandini Sundar, poet Meena Kandasamy, Journalists Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Aatish Tasser, writer William Darymple, and activist Saket Gokhale, as well as news portals The Quint, and Newslaundry.

The matter came to light when poet Meena Kandasamy, tweeted that she had been approached by a journalist to comment on the issue, “Wow….. just learnt this. now coming after us with state machinery.”

Wow….. just learnt this. now coming after us with state machinery.
We will not allow literature and publishing to platform hate. @SaketGokhale @nandinisundar @DalrympleWill @khanumarfa @BloomsburyIndia @BloomsburyBooks @AatishTaseer @TheQuint @newslaundry pic.twitter.com/a02cdEzfKw
— meena kandasamy || இளவேனில் (@meenakandasamy) September 3, 2020

Journalist Navneet Mishra also confirmed the meeting and posted that the authors “have been very upset over the intimidation and violation of their right of freedom of expression over the past few days since 22.08.2020. They informed the Commissioner of the happenings related to the book ‘Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story’.”

The authors of the upcoming book Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story met the Commissioner of Police at Police HQ New Delhi.The complaint was made against Bloomsbury Ltd, Nandini Sundar, Aatish Taseer, WilliamDarlymple, Saket Gokhale , Arfa Khanum Sherwani @advmonikaarora pic.twitter.com/xOsOEVJovG
— Navneet Mishra (@navneetmishra99) September 3, 2020

He even shared these photos of the meeting:

This is the purported letter the authors have handed over to the police. It is alleged that the PDF of the book was leaked, and the writers and activists then ‘pressurised’ the publishers to withdraw the book.

The book Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story, claims to be an ‘expose’ on Delhi’s February 2020 communal riots, and was launched by the authors themselves, six months after the communal violence. The book was ‘launched’ online by the authors themselves because the publishers Bloomsbury India had refused to be associated with the event. Bloomsbury had even accused the authors of using their brand logo at the launch without permission. Later scores of activists, authors, journalists, and readers also raised concerns about the one-sided book. Bloomsbury withdrew the book, and announced that they will no longer be publishing it after the online launch by the authors, and their supporters.

Soon, another publishing house, Garuda Prakashan came forward to publish the title. Garuda is founded by Sankrant Sanu. The Lede, in an article on influencers of trolls, had added him to the list of notables. They have been successful with the acquisition of this title and have claimed massive advance orders for the book.

SC directs 48,000 shanties to be razed along railways track in Delhi

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September 3, 2020

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The Supreme Court, on August 31, directed the removal of nearly 48,000 shanties along the 140-km railway tracks of New Delhi. The bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari directed that his task be completed within 3 months and disallowed any court from granting a stay on this order. This order comes just 3 days before Justice Mishra retired from office as a judge of the Supreme Court.

This order was passed in a petition which was filed by MC Mehta in 1985 and the apex court has been passing directions in the case since then, time and again in issues pertaining to pollution in and around Delhi. The rationale behind passing this order also was to prevent piling up of waste garbage along railway tracks but the order does not seem to draw any connection between failure of Railways in implementing waste management and the unauthorised slums along the railway tracks.

The Environment Pollution (Protection and Control) Authority (EPCA) submitted to the court that Indian Railways is not in compliance with the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, which require the bulk waste generator to operationalise a plan for all waste generated. The EPCA recommended a series of steps to be followed by Railways to plan for waste management in a time bound manner.

The Railways in its affidavit mentioned that there is a predominant presence of jhuggis or slums in Delhi along with 140 km route length of track in the region of NCT of Delhi. It was also stated that Out of this, about 70 km route length of track is affected by large jhuggi jhopri clusters existing in close vicinity of the tracks.

The Railways also informed the court that it already has a Special task Force for removal of encroachments from the Railway Property as per NGT orders but there is political intervention against removal of such encroachments which are coming in the way.

Taking this into consideration, the bench ordered, “a comprehensive plan for removal of jhuggies be made and executed in a phased manner. The encroachments which are there in the safety zones should be removed within a period of three months and no interference, political or otherwise, should be there and no Court shall grant any stay with respect to removal of the encroachments in the area in question”.

Further removing any more difficulties in implementation of the order, the court stated, “In case any interim order is granted with respect to encroachments, which have been made along with railway tracks, that shall not be effective.”

Pulling up authorities for lack of waste management, the court stated, “The picture painted in the Report of the EPCA as well as in the reply filed by the Railways indicates that nothing has been done so far and waste is being piled up and at the same time, there is human habitation which has come in the same area unauthorisedly, which are required to be taken care of.”

Background of slum clearance in metro cities

According to the 69th Round of National Sample Survey, 28 percent of about 6,343 slums in Delhi are on railway land. Though the land belongs to the railways, many residents have legal leases for their structures from different state authorities. Some jhuggies along railway lines in Delhi have been in existence for more than 30 years. The railways does not take responsibility for the rehabilitation of those evicted from its land. It does not have an existing resettlement and rehabilitation policy.

In some instances, however, the railways have been made to undertake rehabilitation. In Mumbai, railway authorities were made to provide housing to those evicted from land close to the Dahisar and Andheri railway tracks.

A petition was filed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Delhi on July 26, 2014, seeking a clean up along railways tracks in India. The NGT, in 2015, directed Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board and the city’s civic agencies to relocate all illegal settlements along railway tracks in Delhi within 6 months.

There are some countries that give people the right to occupy unused land for housing. For instance, Brazil guarantees its citizens such a right. In India, there exists no such rights but instead there is the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971, which prohibits the general public from occupying any public premises.

Order on Smog Towers

Another order was passed in this petition with regards to construction of smog towers in Delhi. The court directed the Central Environment Ministry as well as Delhi NCT’s Department of Environment to complete work related to smog towers within 10 months. The court stated that non-compliance of the order would be considered as contempt of the order as there is already huge unjustified delay in complying with it.

Where does the problem lie?

Undisputedly, slum dwellings along railway tracks can be hazardous both for the railways as well as the human settlers. In 2015, a fire had engulfed slums along the railway tracks in Bandra area of Mumbai and railway services were affected until the fire could be brought under control.

There is certainly a need to maintain a safe zone along railway tracks but providing a solution of simply razing the slum habitations with utter disregard to the human lives thus affected is not what one expects from the highest court of the land. The Supreme court could have passed an order like the NGT order of 2015 directing rehabilitation of these slum dwellers, putting the onus on the Railways and the Municipal Corporation, as they failed to keep these encroachments in check in the first place. All metro cities face the menace of encroachment of slums on unauthorized land and one way to deal with this is to give up the unutilized land for residential settlements of these slum dwellers.

In this case, there are safety concerns as well since the settlements are close to railway tracks. The same could have been resolved without creating a humanitarian issue by directing civic bodies and the government to come up with a plan for resettlement of these slum dwellers to a nearby land so that their livelihood also remains unaffected. The problem with this order of “removal of slums” is not just that it lacks concern for the affected human life but, like in many cases, there is always a possibility that once removed, these slums will mushroom again in the same places as they have not been provided with any other remedy for settlement.

The complete order may be read here.

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Truth prevails! Maha govt to declare parts of Aarey as reserved forest

Riot book authors meet Delhi Police Commissioner, file complaint against Bloomsbury and others

SC directs 48,000 shanties to be razed along railways track in Delhi

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