SC concerned over vandalism by Kanwarias
new delhi — The general anguish over vandalism by Kanwarias reached the Supreme Court on Friday as it expressed serious concern over the increasing incidents of lawlessness and vandalism by sectional and religious groups.
As a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud expressed concern over the issue, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal referred to the violent acts by the Kanwarias over the last two days, including the incidents of attacking and over-turning of vehicles.
Venugopal said every now and then something was happening and suggested that rampant vandalism cannot be curbed unless the District Superintendent of Police (SP) was made personally responsible and accountable to deal with such instances of deliberate destruction and damage to public or private property.
As Venugopal mentioned the Kanwaria incidents, Justice Chandrachud pointed that the national highway connecting Allahabad with Varanasi is blocked due to these Shiva devotees.
Kanwarias are Hindu devotees who embark on an annual pilgrimage to collect water from the river Ganga and transport it to various temples dedicated to deity Shiva, for his bath, during the Shravan month of the Hindu calendar.
Sharing the concern, Chief Justice said that all those who vandalise others properties why don’t they burn their own houses. “You burn your own house,” CJI Misra said. Referring to the top court’s 2009 directions to make the leaders of agitation accountable for any damage inflicted to public property in the course of agitation, Chief Justice Misra said that they have issued direction to curb and deal with the incidents of lynching by the vigilante groups and will do so in dealing with acts of vandalism by anyone. The court said that it would put out similar guidelines to curb and control the vandalism by mobs or by whatever label they are known.
Reserving the verdict, the court asked the petitioner Kodungallour Film Society and the Attorney General to give suggestion for guidelines.
Among the incidents mentioned in the court were — the Maratha agitation for quota in Mumbai; the violence in protest by SC/ST groups following top court judgment diluting the provision of mandatory arrest under the The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act; and the agitation by the Karni Sena at the time of the release of the film “Padmavaat”.
“In India every week there is a major happening,” the Attorney
All those who vandalise others properties why don’t they burn their own houses. You burn your own house
Dipak Misra, Chief Justice
General regretted that nothing was happening and no action was being taken against the perpetrators of such incidents.
On the “Padmavaat” row, the Attorney General without naming the Karni Sena that had led the agitation, said: “They openly threatened to cut the nose of lead actress.” —