UPDATE (India): Arrest of human rights activists stayed by the court

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the situation of the human rights activists associated with the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) who were charged with a false case on 9 December 2007. The AHRC has been informed that the Allahabad High Court has stayed the arrest of the staff of the PVCHR who were threatened to be arrested in a fabricated case registered at Phulpur Police Station.

UPDATED INFORMATION:

The AHRC in the recent past has been informing you regarding the case registered against the activists of the PVCHR who were charged with a fabricated case registered at Phulpur Police Station. The complaint upon which the human rights activists associated with the PVCHR were sought to be arrested was registered on 9 December 2007. The AHRC has been informed that the Allahabad High Court has stayed the arrest of all the five activists against whom the case was registered. They are Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi, Ms. Anupam Nagavanshi and Ms. Sruti Nagavanshi of village Pandeypur and Daulatpur and Mr. Prem Nut, son of Mahangu, Ms. Kalawathi, wife of Sherbahadur.

The above persons had approached the Allahabad High Court through separate petitions challenging the vires of the complaint filed by Mr. Rajendra Prasad Tripathi at the Phulpur Police Station. The petitioners contented that the complaint filed at Phulpur Police Station is malicious and based on the allegations made in the complaint no case could be made out against the accused in the complaint. The petitioners also had argued in the court that the complaint filed at the police station is with the intention to disrupt the activities of the PVCHR and if possible to facilitate the Varanasi district administration to conduct a false raid at the PVCHR so that they could destroy all the documents kept at the PVCHR concerning the PVCHR’s work. The petitioners also contended that the district administration was entertaining ill feelings against the PVCHR since the PVCHR were reporting cases of human rights violations within the district and in the state to other human rights groups outside India and to the UN.

While entertaining the petitions and the grounds submitted in the court in support of the petitions, the High Court expressed its surprise regarding the entire transaction and questioned the Public Prosecutor the reasons for a case to be registered based on a nonsense complaint, apparently filed without any specific grounds at the police station. The court also expressed its anguish for such lopsided misuse of the process of law by the Phulpur Police. A copy of the complaint filed at Phulpur Police Station by Mr. Rajendra Prasad Tripathi was produced in the court by the petitioners. The court has also issued notice to Mr. Rajendra Prasad Tripathi to appear in court and show cause the reason for such a complaint.

The AHRC has in the past issued several updates regarding this case. For further details regarding this case and its background please see UAU-004-2008.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The immediate purpose of the complaint filed by Mr. Rajendra Prasad Tripathi was to prevent the activities of the PVCHR in Belwa village in Varanasi district, where Mr. Tripathi is the village head. The activities of the PVCHR in the village had united the Dalits in the village. The unity among the Dalits in Belwa had been seen as a threat to the absolute authority of Mr. Tripathi by Tripathi and his men. The district administration also has apparently made use of Tripathi’s complaint to manipulate the local police to register non-bailable charges against the activists associated with the PVCHR. It is at this juncture the AHRC took up the case of the PVCHR.

Now that the High Court itself has expressed its concern regarding the clarity and thus the intention of the complaint filed against the PVCHR, a separate investigation must be held into the conduct of the officers stationed at the Phulpur Police Station in connection with Crime 357/2007 registered on 9 December 2007 at the Phulpur Police Station. The investigation must also cover the role played by the Varanasi District Administration, particularly the office of the District Magistrate Ms. Veena Kumari in interfering with the registration of the complaint against the PVCHR at the Phulpur Police Station.

If any public servant is found to have misused their authority in registering a false case against the PVCHR, immediate actions must be initiated against them. So far the Phulpur police have failed to produce the complete case records concerning the case at the trail court in Varanasi, in spite of repeated orders from the trial court. This, the AHRC believes is because the local police has been pressured by the District Magistrate not to produce the case records in the court so that the District Magistrate Ms. Veena Kumari could proceed against the PVCHR and its assets.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the relevant authorities mentioned below urging for an immediate and thorough investigation into this case and to stop all proceedings against the PVCHR. The Phulpur police may be directed to file the complete case diary at the Varanasi court and let the court decide what is to be done regarding the crime and the charge. The AHRC is also writing to the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders calling for an immediate intervention in this case.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER