BECHAR KESHAVJI PATEL Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Two residents of village Ranmalpur in Surendranagar District have filed this petition in which they challenge the notifications issued by the State Government declaring Ranmalpur village as a distur- bed area so as to deploy additional police there for the purpose of maintaining law and order and imposing upon the Kanbi Patels of the village punitive tax. They were issued under sec. 50 of the Bombay Police Act 1951

(2.) On 22nd June 1974 there was a very serious incident which took place between Kanbi Patels and Harijans in Ranmalpur village. It has been described in the report which the District Superintendent of Police Surendranagar made to the District Magistrate Surendranagar on 26th June 1974 It is at Annexure-1 to the affidavit-in-reply filed on behalf of the State of Gujarat. It is necessary to refer to the nature of the incident in order to appreciate the challenge which has been raised in this petition. The District Superintendent of Police Surendranagar repor- ted to the District Magistrate Surendranagar the following facts. Kanbi Patels constitute the majority or the predominant community in Ranmal- pur village. On account of the dry weather the well from which the Harijans had been d-awing water had dried up and therefore they had been drawing water from an adjacent common well. The Kanbi Patels objected to the Harijans drawing water from that common well. On 28th May 1974 the Harijans were prevented by Kanbi Patels from drawing water from that well and in the process the earthen pots brought by the Hari- jans for taking water from the well were smashed or broken. The Hari- jans thereafter approached higher authorities in order to get redress of their grievance. They approached the Deputy Superintendent of Police Harijan Cell Rajkot District Superintendent of Police Surendranagar the Collector Surendranagar Jilla Harijan Seva Sangh P.S.I. Halvad and Taluka Development Officer Halvad. An inquiry was made by the Police Sub-Inspector Halvad. As a result of that inquiry the Police Sub-Inspe- ctor found that the complaint made by the Harijans was true. He there fore registered offences under certain sections of the Indian Penal Code and under secs. 7 and 10 of the Untouchability Act. Interim bonds were taken from seven persons who were accused of having committed offences Police arrangements were made for maintaining law and order in the village. On 22nd June 1974 at about 5-30 p. m. ladies belonging to Kanbi Patel community and the Harijans quarrelled on the question of drawing water from the common well. Two Police Constables who were on the spot on duty intervened and prevented the situation from deteriorating. The quarrelling ladies were separated by them. Kanbi Patel ladies went home and informed their men-folk of what had happened at the com- mon well. The Kanbi Patel men-folk went to the scene of offence armed with Dharias Lathis spades and other agricultural implements. The Sar- panch of the village Pitamber Jetha and his wife and other infuriated Kanbi Patels went to the scene surrounded the two Police Constables overpowered them beat them and snatched away from them their. 303 rifles. Thereafter they broke open the windows of the houses of the Harijans and mercilessly beat them. They had been under unbounded wrath and therefore they did not spare even the helpless victims who tried to save themselves by hiding inside their houses. Two persons died as a result of this incident. One of them was actually dragged out of his Kothi or grain-store and beaten to death. The other deceased who ran away was chased by the mob and beaten to death inside the temple. Two persons aged 65 years of age were injured. Their hands were fractured and they sustained wounds on their heads and legs. The Harijan ladies were also not spared and two policemen who were on duty there were also beaten by the mob. One of them was treated as an indoor patient in the hospital where the wound sustained by him on his head was required to be sutured. Another Police Constable received injuries on his back and leg. The District Superintendent of Police described in his report the attack made by the Kanbi Patels on the Harijans as savage inasmuch as the Kanbi Patels did not spare old Harijan men and women and caused extensive damage to their household utensils and properties. The houses of the Harijans were ransacked and their gold and silver ornaments and cash were looted. The incident was still more savage on account of the fact that when it happened only the aged and physi- cally weak Harijans were present because most of the young and able bodied males and famales had gone for daily labour in order to earn their bread. The houses of the Harijans and their movables were exten- sively damaged and destroyed. The scene of the incident bore blood marks. 122 persons were named as accused in-the first information report which was lodged with the police out of which according to the District Superintendent of Police 100 had been arrested when he received the report in question. He further reported that he had deployed for maintenance of law and order one Police Inspector three Police Sub-Inspectors and 45 Constables including State Reserved Policemen. In addition to it the Deputy inspector General of Police Rajkot Range had sent a platoon of State Reserved Policemen to maintain law and order in the village. On these facts which came to the knowledge of the District Superintendent of Police he reported to the District Magistrate Surendranagar that the Kanbi Patels the majority community has perpetrated on the unarmed and helpless Hari- jans of Ranmalpur village a serious attack without any provocation. The only fault of the Harijans was that they had been trying to draw water from the common well to quench their thirst. To his report he annexed two sets of details. They show that in this incident two Harijans were killed two were seriously injured and four Harijan ladies were also seriously injured. The second statement of details shows that so far as movable and immo- vable properties were concerned the Harijans according to him had sustained damage to their property to the tune of Rs. 37 995 It consisted of damage to houses and house-hold articles of Harijans and loss of cash gold and silver looted by Kanbi Patels. It is under these circumstances that a criminal case in the first instance was instituted against a number of persons. They included Kanbi Patels Kumbhars Kolis and Bava Sadhus. 17 of the several persons who were arraigned before the Criminal Court- were convicted and the rest were acquitted. Appeal against the conviction awarded to the seventeen of the accused persons is pending in this High Court. In order to restore law and order and to reestablish a sense of security amongst the Harijans of Ranmalpur village the Government issued on 11th July 1974 a notification under sub-sec. (1) of sec. 50 of the Bombay Police Act 1951 by which the Government declared the entire Ranmalpur village as a disturbed area which required the deployment of additional police for a period of three months. On the same day the Government issued a second notification under sub-sec. (3) of sec. 50 by which they ordered that Kanbi Patel families of Ranmalpur village should pay in equal shares a sum of Rs. 36 244 56 as a tax in order to enable the State Government to meet the cost of additional Police deployed for the purpose of maintaining law and order in Ranmalpur village. It may be stated that pursuant to the first mentioned notification the State Govern- ment deployed one platoon of State Reserve Police at Ranmalpur village for a period of three months in the first instance. One platoon consisted of six Head Constables and 30 Constables.

(3.) It is the validity of these two notifications which is challenged by the petitioners in this petition.