Groups and individuals resorting to vandalism of public and private property is a “grave” situation and this must stop, said the Supreme Court on Friday as it set out to reserve orders on a petition that sought framing of guidelines to ensure accountability is fixed for the loss of life or property to the public at large.
The rogue act of violence by a group of Kanwariyas in Delhi was fresh in the mind of the Attorney General KK Venugopal who supported the Court in this venture. Pointing to the incident and other such instances, Venugopal said, “Almost every week there is a protest or rioting happening in some part of the country.
In one place its may be Marathas agitating for reservation and in another place, it could be the SC/STs protest (against the Supreme Court judgment diluting provisions of SC/ST Act).”
He further went on to state, “Recently the papers reported acts of violence involving Kanwariyas. Again when the film Padmavat was to be released, one group openly threatened to cut the nose of the lead actress. Can we have this in a civilized societyij Nothing has happened to those who did this. Not even a FIR registered.”
The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices AM Khanwilkar, and DY Chandrachud also shared their experience of how the entire highway gets blocked to make way for kanwariyas. In Delhi, a private car that grazed against a kanwariya on a busy public street of West Delhi was vandalized and its occupants roughed up while in another incident, a group of kanwariyas vandalized a police van in Uttar Pradesh.
“The situation is grave and this must stop,” the bench exclaimed as it asked A-G for his suggestions. Venugopal felt that it was time that responsibility is fixed on the local police and district authorities every time such incident gets reported. He was convinced that if the local superintendent of police is held liable for such wanton acts of violence, efforts will be made to prevent such crimes in the first place. He gave the example of how unauthorized construction in the Capital was brought under check after the concerned municipal officer was held accountable for any such construction coming up within his/her area. Even the petitioner Kodungalloor Film Society represented by advocate PV DInesh said that guideline indicating a standard operating procedure was the need of the hour.