Whether it is BJP or Congress or any other organisation, they must realise they can be held accountable for damage to public property.
SUPREME COURT NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has said it will lay down guidelines for action against people damaging public property during protests, saying rioters cannot hold the country to ransom.
The court’s observation comes at a time when largescale violence in Haryana during the Jat agitation for reservation has left 28 people dead, destroyed businesses, ruined livelihoods and damaged property. Delhi is still reeling under a crisis brought on by the protesters damaging the Munak canal, one the main sources of water for the Capital.
“The country cannot be held to ransom. You cannot bur n the country’s or its citizens’ property,” a bench headed by justice JS Khehar said on Wednesday. The court was hearing the bail plea of Gujarat’s Patidar leader Hardik Patel, spearheading an agitation for his community of Patels to be given the Other Backward Classes status that would get them reservation in jobs and colleges.
Patel has been charged with sedition for allegedly egging on the members of his community to kill policemen during the agitation marred by rioting and violence. “We must take a call on the issue and we would frame guidelines for taking action against people indulging in such acts,” the bench said. “Whether it is BJP or Congress or any other organisation, they must realise that they can be held accountable for the damage to the public property.”
Fixing Thursday for hearing, the court asked the gover nment’s top legal officer, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, to appear in the matter. Rohatgi opposed the plea for quashing the sedition case against the 22-year-old Patidar leader.
Taking note of large-scale violence during a Gujjar agitation for affirmative action, the court in 2009 issued a set of norms, including making rioters pay for damage to property, holding protest leaders responsible for such losses and laying down stringent condition for bail to rioters.
The cour t had left it to appropriate authorities to implement the norms. It, however, did ask the government to take into consideration suggestions made by its two panels while framing laws.
The court’s decision also mirrors the concern of industry. According to industry body ASSOCHAM, Haryana suffered a loss of about R20,000 crore due to the quota stir that was called off recently after the government gave into the Jat community’s demand.
Apart from destruction of property, industrial production also took a hit. Rail and road traffic was paralysed for days, leaving thousands of people stranded. Buses, trucks, cars and railways stations were set on fire during the two-week agitation.
The court did not make a reference to the Jat protests but expressed concern over the breakdown of law and order during such agitations. “The country must know what the consequences are,” it said.
During the brief hearing, Rohtagi told the court that the Gujarat Police had already filed a charge sheet in the case.
They have accused Patel of instigating the community members to kill policemen and adopt violent ways to “wage war against Gujarat government”.
SC: Make protesters pay for this
Says will step in and frame rules if no measures taken for property damage
A pile of burnt motorcycles on a street in Rohtak on Wednesday after several days of arson and vandalism in Haryana. AFP
R Sedhuraman,Legal Correspondent,New Delhi, February 24
The Supreme Court today directed the government to make protesters pay for damaging public property, failing which it will come out with guidelines for sternly dealing with those holding the country to ransom in the name of stir for one cause or the other.“The protesters must face the consequences for their actions. They must realise that they will be held accountable for damaging public property. We are not bothered whether it is the BJP, Congress or any other organisation,” a Bench comprising Justices JS Khehar and C Nagappan remarked.The observation, which came during the hearing of a plea of Gujarat Patidar leader Hardik Patel, who spearheaded the agitation demanding reservation for Patels, assumes significance in the wake of large-scale violence and loss of property in Haryana during the recent Jat quota agitation.The Bench issued the warning when Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said the sedition case against Hardik also involved damage to public property. Incidents of damage to property were now happening everywhere and if the government did not frame a policy “we shall do it within our framework. People can’t be allowed to go berserk while agitating”, the Bench said in apparent reference to the Haryana Jat agitation. “Where is our country going? You just can’t burn the property of the country or of people. Whether it is the BJP, Congress or any other organisation, it must be asked to pay for the damage,” the Bench said.Another SC Bench, which was hearing the 2011 Jat quota stir case, had said it intended to order the setting up of special courts for disposal of cases involving damage to public property within three months.The Bench of Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhya (both have retired now) had also expressed its intention to monitor the prosecution of those giving calls for blocking rail and road traffic. It had made the remark while hearing of two PILs relating to damage to the railways caused by Jats of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in the course of their agitation.“Are you really serious in stopping all this? Since you are not doing it, being the third constituent of the state, we will do it. But it is your function, not ours,” the court had noted.
Nation can’t be held to ransom: Apex courtNo one can take the country to ransom during agitations…. You just can’t burn the property of the country or of people. Whether it is the BJP, Congress or any other organisation, it must be asked to pay for the damage—Supreme Court Bench
Toll 28, probe into ‘inaction’ on; Hooda aide booked
File photo of Prof. Virender Singh
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 24
The BJP government today appointed a retired IPS officer, Prakash Singh, to probe allegations of inaction by civil and police officers during the Jat quota agitation even as the police put the death toll in the violence at 28.Edit: Divide and misruleA case of sedition was registered against Congress leader Prof Virender Singh, an aide of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.Prakash Singh, a former police chief of Uttar Pradesh and Assam, will look into acts of omission and commission on part of officials of both police and civil administration and submit his report within 45 days. Singh will study the existing structures, procedures and systems for maintenance of law and order in the state and suggest improvements to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
Jat stir toll rises to 28: DGP
- HISAR: DGP YP Singhal said 28 persons have been killed and 200 injured during the Jat agitation in Haryana.
- A total of 535 criminal cases have been registered in connection with the violence, he said.
- Curfew has been lifted from all the places, the DGP said, adding that mainly five districts were affected due to the violence. — TNS