SAROJAM SURENDRAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner has filed this writ petition seeking the following reliefs:-

(2.) The facts in brief are stated herein below:- Smt. Sarojam Surendran, aged 55 years claims that she is an ardent devotee of Lord Ayyappa and so are the rest of his family members. Her husband had visited the Sabarimala Temple situated at the mystic hills of Sabarimala, several times during his life. The popular shrine, which is opened for just 128 days each year, is visited by tens and thousands of pilgrims annually. From the Pamba river basin, pilgrims must trek 5 kms. through a steep forest path to reach the temple perched atop the 'Periyar Tiger Reserve'. The shrine opens for the 41 days Mandala Pooja every year. On 17.10.2018, when the Sabarimala temple, which is the abode of Lord Ayyappa, opened for the poojas, the petitioner, her husband and a group of other devotees, reached Pamba, which is the holy river at the foothills of Sabarimala at around 2.30 p.m. They saw various bhajan groups of devotees at various places of Pamba chanting bhajans. The petitioner along with her husband walked in and around the Pamba Ganapathy temple as the shores of Pamba had been ravished by the devastating floods in Kerala. After that, they sat on a cement pavement situated at least ten feet away from the road which led to the starting point of trekking path towards the Sabarimala shrine. At about 5 O'clock in the evening, suddenly, several dozens of Policemen arrived at that spot and the Police without prior notice charged with lathis against the devotees, who were chanting bhajans. The petitioner could not resist the Police outrage and she was forcefully thrown into a Police vehicle by a policeman. When she was hit on her forehead with stones pelted by the policemen, she collapsed on the cement floor near the police van. The Police tried to pull and drag the petitioner to the Police vehicle, which however ended up in her sustaining other injuries. According to the petitioner, entire incident was masterminded by the Police to create a breach of law and order to justify invocation of power under Sec. 144 Crimial P.C., 1973 on the following days by the Government. The petitioner was taken to the Pamba Government Hospital and was given her primary treatment, where she had to cry aloud for a drop of water for her basic needs. The toilet was without water supply. Thus, it is alleged that the State is liable for the physical injury and the mental agony suffered by the petitioner, as the State has a duty and responsibility to curb, control and keep the police to its permissible limits. Quantifying the loss sustained to her due to the fall and injuries inflicted as a result of police atrocities at Rupees Two lakhs and for the mental agony she had suffered and continues to suffer, an amount of Rupees One lakh more is claimed. Petitioner also filed Ext.P3 request to the Ombudsman seeking to enquire into the Police actions on 17.10.2018 at the premises of Pamba Ganapathy Temple.

(3.) The District Police Chief, Pathanamthitta, filed counter affidavit on behalf of respondents Nos.1 and 2 in this writ petition stating that the petitioner is the BJP Mandalam Secretary, Kochi and she came to Pamba in a mini bus along with more than 30 persons and obstructed the real devotees proceeding to Sannidhanam challenging the judgment of the Supreme Court, which declared that women of any age like men are entitled to enter and pray at Sabarimala temple. When Police attempted to remove the illegal obstructors, they started to lay themselves on the road. The Police only removed the violators of law and those 'namajapam' obstructors, who laid themselves spread on the road. According to the first respondent, the petitioner came with large number of persons in groups obstructing genuine devotees, which ultimately led to the issue of prohibitory order under Sec. 144 Crimial P.C., 1973 The petitioner, who participated and acted as a leader of the group, which obstructed the devotees was party to the violence perpetrated near Pamba Guard room. Five persons, who accompanied the petitioner, had been arrested in connection with the crime No.259/2018 of Pamba Police Station. After verification of the video recording and photographs, the role of the petitioner was revealed and hence, the Police added the petitioner as accused in the aforesaid crime. It is also stated that the petitioner is not entitled to get any damage for the injury sustained to her. On the other hand, the State is entitled to recover damages for the loss caused to the Police vehicles and injuries sustained to the Policemen.