A NALLASIVAN Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition by a RAJYA SABHA MEMBER and Secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), filed as a public interest litigation, is against respondents 1 and 2, who are State of Tamil Nadu, represented by two different Secretaries, 3rd respondent, who is the District Forest Officer, Harur Division, Dharmapuri District, 4th respondent, who is Revenue Divisional Officer, Dharmapuri District and the 5th respondent, who is the Deputy Superin tendent of Police, Harur. It prays for a Mandamus to direct the respondents to hold an enquiry into the happenings, commencing from 20-6-1992 and the consequent suffering undergone by the Villagers of Vachathi, a small Tribal Village in the abovesaid Harur Taluk. It also prays that upon considering the abovesaid enquiry report, for taking appropriate penal action against the delinquent personnel and for compensating the victims. It also prays for an enquiry being held on the wider question of smug gling in sandal wood in the abovesaid area to elimi nate the nexus between the culprits, politicians and officials of the administration. This public interest litigation is launched on the footing that the abovesaid villagers, on their own, are in no position to pursue their grievances.

(2.) The allegations in the petitioner's affidavit dated 20-8-1992 in support of the writ petition may be summarised as follows :- The people of Vachathi had been victims of brutal attacks by the Forest and Police personnel, for about three days since 20-6- 1992. The village has become totally deserted and the immediate requirement is to enable the inhabit ants to come back and settle in the village. The village has about 200 small houses and the people are engaged in agriculture, poultry, bee-keeping and cattle rearing. On 17-7-1992, the petitioner came to know through P. Shanmugam, the Secretary of the Tamilnadu Tribals Association, who had visited Vachathi on 14-7-1992, about the abovesaid attack and the fact that 200 men and women had been arrested and remanded to judicial custody. After gathering all details, the petitioner wrote a letter the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 18-7-1992, demanding judicial enquiry into the incident to violence on 20-6-1992 at Vachathi and demanding action against the Officials, who had committed offences of looting the houses and raping woman and also demanding compensation for the loss, suffered by the said villagers. The abovesaid Shanmugam also sent similar representation to the Chief Minister. But, there was no reply to either of the representations. The abovesaid villagers also represented to the District Collector and Tahsildar of Harur on 14-7-1992. The first official response from the State Government was the statement by the Minister of Forests on 21-7-1992, in which he de fended the officials, saying that they had acted to curb smuggling activity by the abovesaid villager. The petitioner along with other leaders of his party visited Vachathi on 31-7-1992, which his 13 kilometre from Harur at the foot hills of Sitheri Range, which is considered to be rich in sandal wood. Then, the houses therein appear to have suffered great dam ages. Food grains were also strewn around with broken pieces of mud vessels and roof tiles, etc. Ration Cards, School Certificates and pattas were torn and were found scattered all over. The terror let loose on 20-6-1992 had put the entire population on the run, seeking shelter in nearby forest. The facts gathered by the petitioner's team, after personal investigation with some of the villagers, are as follows : About 45 Forest Officials headed by Singaravelu Assistant Conservator of Forests and Ganesan, Forest Ranger, along with Foresters and others reached, Vachathi in the morning of 20-6-1992. They had found sandalwood buried in the dry river bed near Vachathi. They called a villager, Perumal, who was working in his field nearby and asked him to tell them to whom the sandalwood belonged. When Perumal pleaded ignorance, the Forest personnel beat him up. On hearing about this incident, the villagers gathered and accosted the forest officials. An altercation led to a clash in which Selvaraj, a Forester was injured. The villagers gave him first aid and arranged for taking him to the nearby hospital. Around 2.00 p.m. on the same day, about 600 Forest and Police personnel, including about 80 women constables, along with few offi cials, including respondents 3 to 5 descended on the village, rounded up and attcked the villagers, more with a view to avenge the injuries suffered by Selvaraj. The houses were ransacked by the personnel of respondents 3 and 5 and power connections were cut off. Some young women were picked out and taken to the dry river bed on the pretext of unearthing the sandalwood, where they were sexu ally assaulted. Some of them were raped by the forest personnel. Later in the evening on 20-6-1992, 95 men, 94 women along with 28 children were arrested by the forest and police officials and were taken to 3rd respondent's Office. All the women were illegally detained at the Forest Office, Harur on the night of 20-6-1992. Some young women were taken inside the room, stripped, molested and raped. The women were also forced to strip each other and beat each other with brooms. They suffered the gravest humiliation, when the Oor Gounder, the most respected person of the village, was forced to undress the women, who in turn were forced to beat him with brooms. The women were subjected to sexual harassment by men of respondents 3 and 5. On 21-6-1992, the abovesaid 95 men and 94 women and 28 children were remanded to judicial custody at the Sub Jail and Central Jail in Salem. The Forest and Police personnel in the next three days looted away everything including goats and chicken of the villagers. The wells in the village have been con taminated with goat skins and diesel. There is no drinking water available in the village. On 31-7 -1992, the Tribals were still unable to come back to the village, fearing another attack, and also because they had no means of cooking, no drinking water, no change of clothing and no shelter. Though the 4th respondent was asked by the District Collector to conduct an enquiry into the incident, he visited the village for the first time only on 26-7-1992. The petitioner learnt from Annamalai, a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu from Harur constituency, who was present along with the 4th respondent during his visit to Vachathi on 26-7-1992, that the 4th respondent, after going round the village, assured the Tribals that justice would be done and he would provide interim measures to enable the villagers to come back and live in the village. But, the villagers were unable to come back till date. The abovesaid persons, who were arrested and remanded to judicial custody, languished jails for more than a month, after subjected to a brutal attack by the personnel of respondents 3 and 5. Indirani, as young women, who was in remand, had delivered a child in the Sub Jail, Salem. Most of them were let out on bail after more than five weeks in remand. On 28-7-1992, the said villagers sent a representation to the Honourable Chief Justice of this Court, seeking justice. The findings of the team led by the abovesaid Shanmugam and of a team of the Members of People Union of Civil Liberties, Tami1 Nadu Unit, which visited the village from 25- 7-1992 to 30-7-1992, have confirmed the allega tions made by the villagers. The issue was raised by the petitioner in the RAJYA SABHA on 5-8-1992. A report has been submitted by Mrs. Bamathy, Director, SC and ST Commission, Tamil Nadu to the Central Government on the incidents that occurred in Vachathi on 20-6-1992 and subsequently. Smug gling of sandalwood had been going on unchecked with the connivance of officials of the respondents and powerful politicians. People in and around Sitheri Range had given several representations to the au thorities. But, no action had been taken to nab the real culprits. Shifting the blame for smuggling on the poor villagers is designed to shield the culprits. According to the respondents 55 tonnes of sandal wood were unearthed in the abovesaid village, fol lowing the raid on 20-6-1992. It cannot be believed that so much of sandalwood could be felled, brought down the hills in a ready-to-sell condition and buried in the village without the knowledge of the forest officials. On 11-8-1992, the 4th respondent had tried to get the signatures of three girls (who had been victims of rape) on blank papers. They had however refused to sign the papers. 189 men and women have been charged with offences under Secs. 147, 148, 323, 324 and 307, I.P.C., in Crime No. 970 of 1992, registered in Harur Police Station. They have also been charged with offences under S. 21 (d), (e), (f), 41 and 51 of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act. On 30-7 -1992, the abovesaid Shanmugam presented a peti tion to the Honourable Judge in charge of public interest litigation cell of this Court seeking justice. A video recording of the destruction of the village and of the statements given by some victims are avail able to the petitioner. Photographs taken on 1-8- 1992 are also available and some of the said photo graphs have been filed. After all those who were remanded had come out on bail, 18 women have given a complaint to the Sub-Inspector of Police, Harur Police Station on 22-8-1992. They have com plained that they were raped by the Forest Officials in Harur Forest Office and that their houses have been ransacked and looted. Their complaint has been registered; but no action has been taken. The Tribals who were on conditional bail suffered great humiliations at the hands of police and forest offi cials, when they signed their registers every day at their offices. W. P. No. 670 of 1992 was filed before the Supreme Court. On 8-9-1992, the Supreme Court was pleased to pass an order, transferring the said writ petition to this Court, stating that the said writ petition should be heard as early as possible. The villagers have been deprived of the their food, shelter and clothing and they have to take shelter in the nearby forest as fugitive from terror unleashed. The plea of curbing smuggling in sandalwood can not provide licence for indiscriminate assault on the person and means of livelihood of the entire village. Bus service and basic amenities such as drinking water, electric power, etc., have not been restored. Immediate steps must be taken to mitigate the hard ship and also to take long term measures to rehabili tate the inhabitants of the village and bring to book the culprits.

(3.) As against the allegations in the affidavit in support of the writ petition, the respondents have filed counter affidavit dt. 12-1-1993, sworn to by R. Baskaran, Deputy Secretary to Government, Environment and Forest Department, Madras-9. The allegations in the said counter affidavit are briefly as follows :- Vachathi village consists of 160 houses and the total population will be about 750, both male and female. The total number of females in the village are about 188, all being tribal people. There was a specific information about large scale illicit cutting and transporting of sandalwood trees from certain reserve forest in Harur and Shervaroys North Ranges with the help of notorious persons of Vachathi and other villages. The said villages were also said to be aiding smuggling of sandalwood to Madras, Kerala and Karnataka. As early as 30-12-1991, a raid was organised on a small scale to detect such sandlwood smuggling activities in and around Vachathi village. There was stiff resistance from the said villagers. The raid party was attacked by the said villagers. In April, 1992, a similar raid was organised by the Shervaroys North Range. Again the Vachathi villagers resorted to attacking the for est staff, preventing the discharge of their legitimate Government duties. This act of the villagers showed that they had criminal intention and they had their lure to earn money through sandalwood smuggling, since information was available about large scale illegal possession of huge quantity of sandalwood concealed in and around Vachathi village a raid was organised by the District Forest Officer by consult ing the Collector and Superintendent of Police, Dharmapuri. In furtherance of the decision taken, the combing party led by the Assistant Conservator of Forests, commenced its combing operations on 20- 6-1992. It gathered information about the huge quantity of sandalwood buried in the Vachathi rive bed and as the party was engaged in collecting the buried sandalwood, the villagers of Vachathi num bering about 300 came fully armed with deadly weapons such as guns, knives, spear sticks, etc., and started attacking the forest staff, without any provo cation. In that process, Selvaraj, the forester re ceived head injuries along with other forest staff. The villagers took all the staff into their village and held as hostage and threatened them of deadly con sequences. It is denied by the respondents that the people of Vachathi had been victims of brutal attack by forest and police personnel. When the District Forest Officer, Harur, received the message of at tack of the party led by the Assistant Conservator of Forests, he rushed to the scene with full strength of forest staff, numbering about 150 and of police force of 122. The revenue staff numbering six raided the area to seize the buried sandalwood from the lands of the villagers. In the operation raid there were women constables present. During such raids on 21- 6-1992 and 22-6-1992, 181 persons, comprising of 84 men and 97 women were arrested and also 62.7 tonnes of sandalwood seized. Arrests were made under S. 21 (a) and (e) of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882 and Rules 3 and 7 of the Sandalwood Posses sion Rules, 1970. The wood was seized under the Sandalwood Possession Rules. In view of the attack on the abovesaid Selvaraj, T. Singavarelu, The As sistant Conservator of Forests gave a complaint to the Inspector of Police, Harur at about 4.15 p.m. on 20-6-1992 and it was registered in Crime No. 970 of 1992 under Ss. 147, 148, 332, 323, 324, 307 and 506 (ii), Indian Penal Code read with S. 35(i)(a) of the Arms Act. As per the complaint, Perumal and about 500 persons were sited as accused in Crime No. 970 of 1992 on the file of the Inspector of Police, Harur Police Station. The above persons were arrested and remanded before the Judicial Magistrate, Harur be tween 21-6-1992 and 23-6-1992 and all of them were subsequently released on conditional bail. All the accused were treated in proper manner and remanded before the Judicial Magistrate between 21-6-1992 and 23-6-1992. Women police also ac companied the accused. In support of the version of the forest and police officials, Bharathi Elaignar Mandram, and Nehru Yuvakendra had described the report of the alleged rape and illtreatment of the Vachathi villagers, as false. During the first week of Aug. 1992, certain false news items started appear ing in some local newspapers alleging that there had been rape of 18 women accused in Vachathi village. Based on these reports, the petitioner has made the allegation that 18 women have been so raped. The allegation is totally false. The fact that this allegation is made after a lapse of 45 days, clearly shows that it is only an after thought. Neither during the time of arrest of women accused, nor at the time of remand by the Judicial Magistrate, they have complained about any sexual assault or bodily attack. The Dis trict Collector ordered enquiry by the Revenue Divi sional Officer, Dharmapuri and who in his report dt. 10-8-1992, has stated that on 20-6-1992, when the forest officials raided the village, only old women and old men were present in the village and all the other persons fled away from the scene of occur rence. The report also discloses that in the several raids undertaken, sandalwood weighing 3,400 kilo grams were seized. The Revenue Divisional Officer had inspected the said village on 26-7-1992 and found that 49 Mangalore tiled houses were damaged and the remaining 80 tiled houses and 88 thatched huts were intact. The said report also says that the abovesaid villagers were indulging in cutting san dalwood during nights and that is why stringent steps were taken by the forest officials; which re sulted in enmity between the forest officials and the said villagers. The said report says that during the raid 13 women police constables were also there. The report also says that the total weight of the sandal wood seized is about 57,610.7 kilo grams. Apart from the abovesaid Selvaraj, who sustained head injuries and now convalescing, there were 44 other persons who were attacked by the villagers and 21 of them were treated as out - patients and the rest as in - patients. The averment that the villagers gave first aid, is totally false. Perumal was not attacked by the forest personnel. The houses were not ransacked, nor the women were sexually assaulted. The women were not illegally detained in the forest office, nor were they stripped, molested or raped. The Collector of Dharmapuri visited the spot to ascertain the facts regarding the basic amenities and conditions of life prevailing in Vachathi village. This Court, by order dt. 4-11-1992, had directed the District Collector to visit the village and see problem of the villagers with regard to the basic necessities. This Court also called another report from Mrs. Bamathi, Director, Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribes Commission, Tamil Nadu with regard to the prevailing condition of the village and the problems of the local villagers. As per the order of this Court, the District Collector visited the village on 12-11-1992. The report of the Collector also stated that all the basic amenities like water supply, electricity supply, road and bus facility and supply of essential commodities though Fair price shops are main tained. The District Collector had also passed or ders, so that the District Supply Officer, Dharmapuri camped in the village on 13-11-1992 along with other officers and distributed new family cards, for the persons who have lost the ration cards. Orders were also issued for the issue of pattas for 28 persons and the Tahsildar distributed the same on 13-11- 1992. There is one elementary school maintained by Adi Dravidar Welfare Department, where free board ing and lodging is provided to the children of the village. There is one child welfare centre for children maintained by the Social Welfare Department in this village and 60 children are fed thereby. It is also proposed to sanction 14 loans under Intergrated Rural Development Programme to the tune Rs. 87.500.00 with 50% subsidy. The allegation that smuggling activities have been going on unchecked is denied. The petitioner had chosen to defend the actual smugglers, while shifting the blame to the police and forest officials. Since there are no damages alleged in the affidavit and in view of the report of the Collector, there is no need for payment of money compensation. As on date, the village enjoys all the basic amenities.