For fair and speedy action by pune police

For fair and speedy action by pune police

The Supreme Court’s majority verdict in the case of the five rights activists arrested by the Pune police and charged with sections under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has cleared the way for police investigation, and for seeking of judicial remedy by the accused in the courts of relevant jurisdiction. While the court has not granted the petition to appoint a court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct the investigation, Maharashtra police must now proceed both quickly and demonstrate investigative acumen that are sadly all too frequently lacking in Indian law enforcement. The state police should show equal alacrity in investigating the second First Information Report (FIR) registered regarding Bhima-Koregaon violence against two right-wing Hindu activists.

The court’s greenlighting of the primary action by the police is not a sanction for the police to try and force-fit a case on the accused. It should be recalled that many high-profile police investigations have collapsed upon judicial scrutiny of final claims. A notable one is the acquittal, by the Supreme Court in 2014, of all those accused and convicted by lower courts in Gujarat, for conspiracy and complicity in the attack on Akshardham temple in 2002. The court found that the evidence relied on by lower courts had been fabricated. Justice D Y Chandrachud’s minority opinion, in which he differentiates between dissent and unlawful acts of violence against the State, must be noted by all stakeholders, that it is a vital distinction for a volatile democracy such as ours.

The right to dissent is the core of democracy and arbitrary State action to quell that would undermine democracy itself. Political parties should use the right to champion tribal rights, instead of leaving the task to extremist forces.