Free Ramesh Agarwal

TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011

CHAINED AND HANDCUFFED FOR SPEAKING UP

India’s Environmental Activist  lands up in jail  for speaking at Public hearing

                                                                                                                            

On wee hours of morning of 28^th May 2011,  Shri Ramesh Agrawal and Dr. Harihar Patel two longstanding and strong-willed activists from Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh were arrested from their homes by the district police. Both Agrawal and Patel had been raising concerns about the social and environmental impacts of rapid and indiscriminate industrial expansion in the district for the last several years. They had actively participated in mandatory public hearings being organised as part of the environment clearance procedure of India, wherein locally affected people and concerned citizens can raise their concerns and objections to any industrial or infrastructure related project that is to be set up.

Shri Ramesh Agrawal was part of an active group called Jan Chetana and lived in Raigarh town from where he carefully acted as a watchdog and a whistle-blower to several irregularities related to environmental compliance, water pollution and social impact issues of different project being proposed in the district. He had filed several Right to Information (RTI) applications and had on a regular basis highlighted the plight of environmental governance and disregard to environmental norms in the district before the concerned state and central level authorities and ministries. He had also taken up several matters before the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) and other regulatory authorities raising concerns about faulty impact assessment, infective public hearings and instances of construction before mandatory approvals.

Dr. Harihar Patel is a resident of Gare village is a a practicing medical doctor (B.A.M.S. and DAC Aryuvedic and Acupuncture). In more recent times Dr. Patel had been leading the Adivasi Kisan Mazdoor Ekta Sangathan which had been fighting against take over of people's land due to industrial and mining activities in and around his village. He had also filed an application against environment clearance granted for setting up of the Gare IV coal mining project (by M/s JSPL) before the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) proposed .

Both Agrawal and Patel had participated in a public hearing on 8^thMay 2010 and raised objections against the expand an existing thermal power plant of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JPSL) with an additional capacity of 2400 MW. The Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB) had visited the plant site in February 2010 and made observations that the company had initiated construction activity even prior to the public consultation being being completed and an environment clearance issued based on people's responses and the contentions of an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). Both Agrawal and Patel had raised these and many other issues at the public hearing along with their colleague Rajesh Tripathy.

A Complaint was filed against the Aggarwal and Harihar Patel by Jindal Power Ltd. A perusal of Complaint  filed before the Police shows that Sections 501,502,503,504,505,506 read with 34 and 35 of IPC have been registered against Ramesh Aggarwal for statement made at the Public hearing for the proposed project. The offences alleged are mainly dealing provisions of defamation, insult, making false statement with intent to cause offence against public peace etc. and criminal intimidation.

Ramesh Aggarwal has been handcuffed and chained to the bed. This is illegal and violates Supreme Court orders and clearly invites contempt of Court. (See Extracts from Supreme Court Judgement)

Ramesh Agarwal has been spearheading the fight against unplanned industrialisation and exploitation of the natural resources of Chattisgarh. He has been critical in challenging environmental clearances granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests without proper Environment Impact Assessment studies and public consultation. Infact he has to his credit the maximum number of Appeals before the National Environment Appellate Authority. Some of the significant  issues  which Ramesh Aggarwal has brought before the Courts are: challenge to thermal power Plant, Champa, Chattisgarh, leading to the initial  revocation of environmental clearance and having a fresh public hearing conducted,  to his ongoing challenge about half a dozen projects in the region.  On a petition of Aggarwals NGO i.e Jan Chetna the Delhi High court directed that copies of approval given to projects must be made published in local newspapers so as to enable people to know the approval conditions. 

                                                                                                         

Citizen For Democracy Through Its ... vs State Of Assam And Others on 1 May, 1995

AIR 1996 SC 2193, 1996 CriLJ 3247, (1996) 1 GLR 682

16. We declare, direct and lay down as a rule that handcuffs or other fetters shall not be forced on a prisoner convicted or under-trialwhile lodged in a jail anywhere in the country or while transporting or in transit from one jail to another or from jail to Court and back. The police and the jail authorities, on their own, shall have no authority to direct the handcuffing of any inmate of a jail in the country or during transport from one jail to another or from jail to Court and back.

19. When the police arrests a person in execution of a warrant of arrest obtained from a Magistrate, the person arrested shall not be handcuffed unless the police has also obtained orders from the Magistrate for the handcuffing of the person to be so arrested.

21. We direct all ranks of police and the prison authorities to meticulously obey the above mentioned directions. Any violation of any of the directions issued by us by any rank of police in the country or member of the jail establishment shall be summarily punishable under the Contempt of Courts Act apart from other penal consequences under law”