Skip to main content

Adieu natural justice? Order banishing tribal activist from 5 Gujarat districts 'bad in law'

By Rohit Prajapati*
The current Central and state governments in India, along with the machineries at their disposal, have been and are still unable to answer and address the concerns raised, with facts, figures, and constitutional provisions, regarding the Statue of Unity (SoU) Project in Gujarat.
Not only have they refused to address long-pending issues surrounding the right to life, livelihood, and survival of the tribal population in the area, the community and activists raising legitimate concerns are met with imposition of Section 144, house arrest, detention, intimidations, undeclared curfews, and such.
To top all of this, the unconstitutionally-made law, the Statue of Unity Area Development and Tourism Governance Act, 2019, has been executed with full force. The government has begun to launch the Seaplane Service by building the Water Aerodrome Projects near Statue of Unity Project, Panchmukhi Lake (Lake 3) of Sardar Sarovar Dam at Limdi Village, Narmada District, Gujarat, without required environment clearances.
In spite of representations and protests by the local people and concerned members of the civil society, the central and state governments have failed to address the issues faced by the community. To add insult to injury, they have now banished a prominent grassroots activist, Lakhan Musafir, for six months from the Districts of Narmada (where SoU is located) and its nearby Districts of Bharuch, Vadodara, Chhota Udepur, and Tapi districts.
The externment order, dated September 14, 2020, by KD. Bhagat, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Rajpipla, Gujarat, alleges that Lakhan Musafir is inciting people, engaging in “violent” activities, carrying arms, trading in liquor, and such. These are all blatant, baseless, and unsubstantiated lies and allegations and the action against him is clearly bad in law.
The SDM’s externment notice, dated March 8, 2020, and now the order, violates every legal principle and is an example of ongoing overreach by the authorities to crack down on all voices that speak for constitutional rights of the vulnerable and affected communities.
The SDM, Rajpipla, Gujarat, issued notice under section 56 (A), Gujarat Police Act 1951, through Police Sub-Inspector, Kevadia on March 8, 2020, to banish Lakhan Musafir for two years from Narmada, Bharuch, Vadodara, Chhota Udepur and Tapi Districts. The hearings took place on March 12, 2020, April 9, 2020, July 6, 2020, July 13, 2020, July 23, 2020, August 10, 2020, and August 17, 2020.
On July 13, 2020 Lakhan Musafir filed his detailed primary reply and then case was pending for the rejoinder by the police authorities. But, all of a sudden, the case was concluded and on September 14, 2020 the final order was pronounced.
Lakhan Musafir is not a state body but an individual; he needs time and resources to defend himself against such grave fabricated charges and that too during the midst of the Covid -19 pandemic crisis. He has also provided the names of his witnesses in his reply dated July 13, 2020.
Even to get the witnesses to Rajpipla during the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis is very difficult and next to impossible. We can understand that the police do not want to provide any documentary evidence or their witnesses to prove their case, but how can the rights of Lakhan Musafir to defend his case with the help of documents and witnesses be denied!
Lakhan Musafir has been categorically denied an opportunity to effectively defend the case foisted against him and disprove the fabricated charges.
The SDM conducted proceedings during the ongoing Covid -19 pandemic crisis, when even the Supreme Court and High Court have limited their functioning and function through video conferences. In the times of Covid -19 pandemic crisis, the SDM thought it fit to hold physical hearings in the months of July and August, but did not call for evidence from the prosecution and did not even allow Lakhan Musafir the chance to present his witnesses as evidence for his defence. 
Thus, the externment order, dated 14 September 2020, is not only bad in law, but is also in violation of the principles of natural justice.
The state and its officers are expected to focus on the crisis resulting from the Covid -19 pandemic, and should have prioritised it for augmenting the basic necessities and services in an impoverished region instead of expending its energies and resources in targeting an activist involved in peaceful and legitimate activities for the affected communities.
The externment order is contrary to every legal principle, constitutional provision, and further states that Lakhan Musafir cannot be considered innocent till his innocence is proved in other recent pending cases.
Practicing Gandhian philosophy and firm believer in non-violent protests, Lakhan Musafir lives a simple life with tribals
Lakhan Musafir is an activist who has dedicated his life to the empowerment of downtrodden people by helping them access sustainable and organic techniques for farming, encouraged bio-gas plants and environment friendly alternatives, education, and particularly for the rights of those tribal families that were affected by Garudeshwar Weir and tourism projects under the guise of the Statue of Unity project.
Practicing Gandhian philosophy on a daily basis, and a firm believer in non-violence and democratic protests, Lakhan Musafir is living a very simple life with the tribals for the last several years.
The order passed by the SDM without affording Lakhan Musafir the opportunity of fair trial and hearing is entirely bad in law and nothing short of a reprisal for and refutation of years of his constructive work in the community.
What is even more surprising and shocking is that the SDM has not even put on record the evidence on which he has based his order and has failed to deal with the response of Lakhan Musafir to the notice of externment.
The SDM in the concluding para of the order justified the externment reasoning that there are pending cases against Lakhan Musafir. This goes against every grain of law, where he pre-decides his guilt before any process of law gets completed in the recently filed false cases.
Like any police case filed in the court, the court is expected to follow at least the basic minimum procedure to examine the complaint and evidence produced by the police, the reply and evidence presented by the respondent (in this case, Lakhan Musafir), and also examine the witnesses and legal arguments presented by both parties before pronouncement of an order, which is clearly missing in this case.
The externment order defies the Covid -19 guidelines and restrictions too and is unmindful of Lakhan Musafir and others’ health and safety. While it asks Lakhan Musafir to leave his home and neighbourhood, the SDM does not take into account that he would find it difficult to find an alternate place to stay or someone to host him, thus, violating basic human rights in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.
While Lakhan Musafir and local villagers continue to be restricted to their homes, the situation for the locals is further aggravated during any government function or visit. In such circumstances, expelling him from the safety of his home district and five nearby districts for six months is both draconian and unjust.
The externment in effect ensures that voices such as Lakhan Musafir’s are silenced and rendered ineffective when PM Modi is scheduled to arrive at the Statue of Unity on October 31, 2020, for yet another contested project, the seaplane service launch.
Banishment is an act which is repressive in nature and an attempt to silence any democratic opposition to the unconstitutional or destructive policies of the ruling dispensation, which doesn’t have an answer to the legitimate concerns raised by the tribal population of the area. It is a clear indication that the government is not able to defend its unconstitutional action before the people of India and the world in any legitimate way.
The bewildering accusations against Lakhan Musafir and his unlawful banishment against the principles of natural justice must incentivise the people of India and the media to engage with collective questioning, sustained resistance, and demand that constitutional rights are protected and the rule of law must be upheld in letter and in spirit. Not doing so paralyses the foundations of our society and democracy.
---
*Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, Vadodara

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.