IMTIYAZ MURTAZA J - (1.) THE above petitions have been preferred by the petitioners who claim themselves to be natives of three villages namely Bhatta, Parasaul and Acheypur which saw pitched battle between the District Administration and the villagers of the aforesaid three villages on 7.5.2011. The genesis of the trouble lay in their agricultural land having been acquired by the District Administration by invoking Emergency Clause of section 17 of the Land Acquisition Act which gave rise initially to remonstration by demonstration/agitation on various dates which, with the passage of time snowballed into a full-fledged battle on 7.5.2011 resulting in injuries and consequent death of some of the people both on side of administration as well as village people.
(2.) PETITIONER no 8-Harshwardhan V. Sapkal- in writ petition (PIL) No 13109 of 2011, gave his credentials as a social worker who claims to have plied himself to the service of the farmers across the country and out of his anxiety for their rights and to secure justice for them, he has applied for being impleaded in this petition. The aforesaid petitioner, it would appear, had initially preferred a writ petition in the Apex Court and the Apex Court relegated him to the jurisdiction of this Court observing that the High Court is already seized of the matter relating to the violence in the aforesaid three villages. It is in this conspectus that the writ petition no 13109 of 2011 has been connected with other writ petitions. The relief sought in writ petition No 13109 of 2011 is (i) for a writ of mandamus directing an investigation by the CBI or by a Special Investigation Team into the allegations and complaints set out in the petition, (ii) further a writ of mandamus directing the CBI/SIT to take over the investigation in respect of all First Information Reports registered with respect to the incident dated 7.5.2011 and thereafter (iii) issue a writ of mandamus directing to appoint a commission of enquiry to survey and determine the number of individuals that have disappeared and issue a writ of habeas corpus for production of those bodies, (iv) for a writ of mandamus directing for grant of compensation to the victims of these villages for the incidents which occurred on 7.5.2011 and (v) further for a writ of mandamus directing disciplinary action against all the officers found to be involved in misconduct/offences and use of excessive force. Similar are the prayers in other writ petitions As stated supra, the causative factor of trouble which erupted on 7.5.2011 was the forcible acquisition of agricultural land in the aforesaid three villages by the State Government and in connection with it, the tempers were running high and anger was simmering. Initially, the action of the Govt, it would appear, was assailed in the High Court against forcible acquisition of land which however by that time was protracting. What sent sparks and cinders flying was the murder of a youth namely, Hari Om on 6.5.2011 who, as claimed, was in the vanguard of agitation launched against the forcible acquisition proceeding of their agricultural land, and it was in this perspective that an agitation on 7.5.2011 was contemplated which was joined by the people of the three villages. It is alleged that although the agitation was peaceful, but police was deployed in large number and despite the fact that protest was peaceful, the police tried to disperse the mob which exacerbated the already fragile situation resulting in violence and injury to District Magistrate. It is alleged that number of farmers were killed as an excuse for assault on District Magistrate and thereafter, followed the atrocities on the local people. It is further alleged that although official figure rolled out by the Government showed two farmers and two police personnel killed in the violence but in fact, the figure was much higher than disclosed by the official agency. It is further alleged that ingress and egress in respect of all the three villages were sealed and police posse was deployed in the name of restoring law and order but in fact they let loose atrocities on the unarmed and innocent people. The entry of media, it is further alleged, was banned and all the three villages were cut off from rest of the world. It is also alleged that piles of bodies were incinerated beyond recognition so as not to leave any trace of atrocities on three consecutive days i.e 7th, 8th and 9th of May 2011. It is also alleged that the police and para-military forces, plundered the houses and let loose violence on men, women and children of the village and damaged the properties. It is also alleged that many persons fled to nearby forest area to hide and screen themselves from the atrocities and those who stayed back inside their houses were whisked away and they have not been heard of thereafter. Some of the missing persons have been declared as wanted by the local administration. It is also alleged that the Govt sanctioned compensation to the tune of Rs 67,69,000/- to as many as 110 people belonging to the three villages affected by the violence vide letter dated 4.7.2011 sent from the office of Distt Magistrate GB Nagar addressed to the Chairman, National Scheduled Caste Commission New Delhi as contained in Annexure no 8 to the writ petition. It is stated that there is a complete lack of trust on the part of the villagers qua the local authorities and there there has been a complete breakdown of the state machinery in so far as the maintenance of law and order of the villages aforesaid is concerned. It is also stated that the National Commission of Women and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have commended for CBI enquiry into the entire matter.
(3.) WE have heard Sri Gopal Chaturvedi, learned Senior Advocate who advanced arguments on behalf of the petitioners and learned AGA at prolix length and have also delved into the materials on record. The counter affidavit sworn by Hari Kant Tripathi, Special Secretary (Home) Govt of Uttar Pradesh Lucknow has been filed in which it is averred that the incident which occurred on 7.5.2011 was an off-shoot of high handedness of one person namely Manveer Singh Tewatiya and his accomplices who it is alleged was a person with criminal background. It is also averred that in all 1716 persons were the affected land holders of village Parsaul, out of which 770 land holders had received compensation till 5.5.2011. Again in respect of village Bhatta out of total 506 affected land holders, 345 land holders have already received compensation till 5.5.2011. It is also averred that the aforesaid Tewatiya had earlier organized protests and lashed them into indulging violence at town Tappal District Aligarh in the year 2010 and in respect of the incident engineered by the aforesaid person as many as four criminal cases were registered, which were (1) in case crime no 302 of 2010 under section 188 IPC PS Tappal District Aligarh, (ii) case Crime No 308 of 2010 under section 147, 148, 149, 307, 336, 353, 332 IPC and 7 Criminal Law Amendment Act and 25 Arms Act PS Tappal District Aligarh (iii) case crime No 314 of 2010 under section 147, 148, 149, 332, 353, 336, 188, 307, 504, 506 323 IPC PS Tappal District Aligarh (iv) Case crime No 303 of 2010 under section 147, 148, 149, 434, 188, 352, 504, 506 IPC and Section 7 of Criminal Law Amendment Act PS Tappal District Aligarh. It is further averred that various criminal cases were registered against the said Tewatiya in the year 1987, 1992 and 2000 respectively the details of which are contained in para 6 of the counter affidavit. It is also averred that the aforesaid Tewatiya in league with some disgruntled opposition leaders, sowed seed of discord and formed a clique who indulged in various anti social activities committing heinous offences which culminated in the unfortunate incident dated 7.5.2011. Prior to the incident, it is averred, aforesaid Tewatiya with accompanying mob detained a roadways bus and held captive two of the roadways employees on 6.5.2011 with the avowed intention of forcing the Govt to accede to their illegal demands. In the meanwhile, it is averred, roadways employees submitted a memorandum intimating that in case that the release of aforesaid employees who were held as hostages by Tewatiya and his associates is not effected, they would proceed on strike. Taking into consideration the prevailing situation, the police force was readied to maintain law and order. In the meanwhile one of the family members of the roadways employees held as hostages, namely A.K.Bharadwaj expressed willingness to go to village for negotiation. The same day the aforesaid family members after return from village Bhatta Parsol, disclosed that the lives of hostages were in peril. In these circumstances, it is averred, the District Magistrate and other authorities left for villages Bhatta and Parsol for negotiation with the agitators for release of employees held as hostages. As soon as the District Magistrate and other authorities reached the village, the agitators on being exhorted by Tewatiya started pelting stones followed by firing upon the police force. Despite warning when it seemed that there was no way out except to use force, to begin with, tear gas shells were used followed by use of rubber bullets and when it did not yield result, reinforcement was sought. In the meanwhile, one of the fire opened by Tewatiya and his group hit the thigh of District Magistrate who fell down on the spot and as a result, the force retreated except few police personnel who were bearing brunt of the attack by the agitators. In the meanwhile, IG Meerut Range reached the spot with reserve police but the attack did not subside. In the continuous firing and attacks mounted by the agitaros, Manveer Singh and Manohar Singh Constables received serious gunshot injuries who later on died in the hospital. In the unabated attack, SSP GB Nagar, City Magistrate, GB Nagar, Circle officer Udairveer Khokhar, Ambesh Tyagi and Rahul Kumar and several police personnel also sustained injuries. It was in this conspectus that the police force was issued orders to to make use of firearms in self defence. It is also alleged that in the firing opened in defence, only two persons from the side of agitators were killed namely, Rajveer Singh, who, it is alleged, had snatched SLR from Constable Manvir Singh and another person who died in the firing was Rajpal. Several other persons also sustained injuries. In respect of the incident that occurred on 7.5.2011, as many as six criminal cases were registered naming Manvir Singh Tewatiya, Neeraj Malik and hundred of other persons. The deponent has denied any atrocities having been indulged in by the police force or District Administration. He also refuted the allegations of any incident of rape or any living person having been burnt alive. He also stated that report of National Women commission was vague and was not supported with any clinching proof. He also stated that the matter has been handed over to CBCID for investigation which is conducting fair and impartial investigation in the matter. He also took exception to the allegations referred to in the NHRC report which according to the deponent contained tutored statements of the village people made on dotted line at the behest of rival opposition parties to malign the Govt. As regards three missing persons, it is averred in para 28 that all the three persons were very much alive and were found present at their respective houses. In the aforesaid affidavit, details were given about the help and efforts made by the district administration to restore peace and to provide medical aid etc and also to restore confidence in the general public;