The State of Maharashtra today filed a counter affidavit in the case concerning arrests of five activists/intellectuals in relation to the Bhima Koregaon violence, claiming that the arrested activists have connections with banned groups..At the outset, the State of Maharashtra has claimed that the petition is not maintainable given that it is filed by five activists who are “strangers”, unconnected to the case. It has been submitted that as per the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), only the accused can maintain the proceedings..It is further contended that the petition has been filed merely on the basis of media reports and statements issued by senior “activists” and “intellectuals”, and is based on the individual perception of the petitioners..The State goes on to assert that it is committed to protecting the rights of the citizens, including the right to dissent..“…State Government is committed to the protection of fundamental rights of every citizen. A mere dissenting view, difference in ideology or vehement objections to the political thinking can not only not be prohibited but should always be welcomed in any democratic country. .Even if a citizen very vociferously and vehemently professes a different political or other ideology… [it] cannot be and should not be a ground to curtail personal liberty of such a person/s or infringe upon any of the fundamental rights and any such infringement would definitely be violative of the cherished principles underlined in Chapter III of the Constitution.“.However, as per the State, these arrests were not based on dissenting opinions held by the arrestees but rather on account of the incriminating material found against them..As per its affidavit, the arrested persons have past antecedents and connections with banned organisations like the Communist Party of India (Maoist). It contends that the active members of such banned organisations, cannot be considered as representatives of dissent..“This Hon’ble Court is dealing with persons against whom cogent evidence has so far come on record showing that they are active members of the banned terrorist organization namely, Communist Party of India [Maoist], and they are involved in not only planning and preparing for violence but were in the process of creating large scale violence, destruction of property resulting into chaos in the society as per the agenda prepared by the Communist Party of India [Maoist], which was banned as a terrorist organization in 2009.“.The affidavit also makes reference to way in which the accused went about recruiting others for their “underground” struggle, which also involves the arms smuggling..“The material gathered from others based upon which the five accused persons named hereinabove are arrested, clearly show that they were involved in selecting and encouraging cadres to go underground in ‘struggle area’, mobilizing and distributing money, facilitating selection and purchase of arms, deciding the rates of such arms and suggesting the routes and ways of smuggling such arms into India.“.The State has also submitted that while carrying out raids to unearth the criminal conspiracy, the process was also videographed to allay accusations that the arrestees were “hounded”..The incriminating material seized thereby from laptops, pen drives et al shows a “sinister design to destabilize the society“. As stated in the affidavit,.“…the material found from the computers / laptops / pendrives / memory cards of the aforesaid accused persons was shocking and clearly implicating the aforesaid persons not only as active members of CPI [Maoist] but clearly reflected an on-going sinister design of having committed and in the process of committing criminal offences having the potential of destabilizing the society. .The contents also clearly reflect the preparation, planning and coordination not only amongst the aforesaid persons but with others [subsequently arrested] to carry out a violence, planned ambush / rebellion against the ‘enemy’ (which is our country and its security forces).”.In this backdrop, it has been contended that the Court is not dealing with the issue of freedom of expression but rather with dealing with persons against whom cogent evidence has come on record..Therefore, the State of Maharashtra has prayed that the Court’s previous order directing house arrest of the accused until further orders be vacated, arguing that the accused persons could cause prejudice to the investigation in the interim..The matter is scheduled to be heard on Thursday, September 6..Read the Counter-Affidavit:
The State of Maharashtra today filed a counter affidavit in the case concerning arrests of five activists/intellectuals in relation to the Bhima Koregaon violence, claiming that the arrested activists have connections with banned groups..At the outset, the State of Maharashtra has claimed that the petition is not maintainable given that it is filed by five activists who are “strangers”, unconnected to the case. It has been submitted that as per the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), only the accused can maintain the proceedings..It is further contended that the petition has been filed merely on the basis of media reports and statements issued by senior “activists” and “intellectuals”, and is based on the individual perception of the petitioners..The State goes on to assert that it is committed to protecting the rights of the citizens, including the right to dissent..“…State Government is committed to the protection of fundamental rights of every citizen. A mere dissenting view, difference in ideology or vehement objections to the political thinking can not only not be prohibited but should always be welcomed in any democratic country. .Even if a citizen very vociferously and vehemently professes a different political or other ideology… [it] cannot be and should not be a ground to curtail personal liberty of such a person/s or infringe upon any of the fundamental rights and any such infringement would definitely be violative of the cherished principles underlined in Chapter III of the Constitution.“.However, as per the State, these arrests were not based on dissenting opinions held by the arrestees but rather on account of the incriminating material found against them..As per its affidavit, the arrested persons have past antecedents and connections with banned organisations like the Communist Party of India (Maoist). It contends that the active members of such banned organisations, cannot be considered as representatives of dissent..“This Hon’ble Court is dealing with persons against whom cogent evidence has so far come on record showing that they are active members of the banned terrorist organization namely, Communist Party of India [Maoist], and they are involved in not only planning and preparing for violence but were in the process of creating large scale violence, destruction of property resulting into chaos in the society as per the agenda prepared by the Communist Party of India [Maoist], which was banned as a terrorist organization in 2009.“.The affidavit also makes reference to way in which the accused went about recruiting others for their “underground” struggle, which also involves the arms smuggling..“The material gathered from others based upon which the five accused persons named hereinabove are arrested, clearly show that they were involved in selecting and encouraging cadres to go underground in ‘struggle area’, mobilizing and distributing money, facilitating selection and purchase of arms, deciding the rates of such arms and suggesting the routes and ways of smuggling such arms into India.“.The State has also submitted that while carrying out raids to unearth the criminal conspiracy, the process was also videographed to allay accusations that the arrestees were “hounded”..The incriminating material seized thereby from laptops, pen drives et al shows a “sinister design to destabilize the society“. As stated in the affidavit,.“…the material found from the computers / laptops / pendrives / memory cards of the aforesaid accused persons was shocking and clearly implicating the aforesaid persons not only as active members of CPI [Maoist] but clearly reflected an on-going sinister design of having committed and in the process of committing criminal offences having the potential of destabilizing the society. .The contents also clearly reflect the preparation, planning and coordination not only amongst the aforesaid persons but with others [subsequently arrested] to carry out a violence, planned ambush / rebellion against the ‘enemy’ (which is our country and its security forces).”.In this backdrop, it has been contended that the Court is not dealing with the issue of freedom of expression but rather with dealing with persons against whom cogent evidence has come on record..Therefore, the State of Maharashtra has prayed that the Court’s previous order directing house arrest of the accused until further orders be vacated, arguing that the accused persons could cause prejudice to the investigation in the interim..The matter is scheduled to be heard on Thursday, September 6..Read the Counter-Affidavit: