Allahabad HC takes serious note of beating of PIL petitioner, issues notice to officials

Prayagraj, Sep 2 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has taken a serious note of the thrashing of a petitioner who filed a PIL reporting widespread trespass on public utility and gram sabha land, and asked the senior officials of the Sant Kabit Nagar to file their personal affidavits answering the allegations made in the petition.

Justice J J Munir passed the order and also issued notices to the private respondents who allegedly encroached on public utility and gram sabha land. The court directed to list the public interest litigation (PIL) afresh and fixed September 15 for the next hearing.

Hearing a PIL filed by one Kamal Narayan Pathak, the court observed, "If public spirited persons, who come forward to report issues that affect the community at large, have their voice muffled by goondas, musclemen and anti-social elements, there would be no one to report the mischief afoot in society." The petitioner reported widespread encroachment of public utility and gram sabha land by private respondents in village Umila Buddha Kalan, tehsil Khalilabad in Sant Kabir Nagar district.

The land encroached upon is a public utility land comprising pond, manure pit, khalihan, bheeta and the like.

The petitioner alleged that when he was doing his task, he was severely man-handled, threatened and beaten up by those who seek to promote trespass on public utility land.

The court in its order dated August 29 took a serious note of the allegations of manhandling of the petitioner and passed directives.

It came down heavily on the officers of the state for not doing their duties. "So far as the officers of the state are concerned, if they had indeed been doing their duties, there would not be any need for any public spirited person to come forward to the court and institute a public interest litigation," the court added.

The high court directed Sant Kabir Nagar's district magistrate (DM), superintendent of police (SP), sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Khalilabad, tehsildar and others to file their affidavits in the case.

The court said, "In fact, PILs are a necessary evil and not part of the conventional judicial system. They had to be invented because those charged with duties of the state at the lower rungs of the administration, both police, civil and other functionaries, somewhere failed to do their duties or ill-performed." PTI COR RAJ KSS KSS