NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India recently refused to interfere with a Bombay High Court order which directed the mandatory removal of a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue from land owned by the Mormugao Port Authority. A partial court working days bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Sheel Nagu was dealing with a special plea challenging the High Court’s directives. The petitioners primarily argued before the apex court that the High Court had erroneously granted final relief at an early interim stage of the litigation.
However, considering the bench’s clear disinclination to entertain the matter, the petitioners ultimately chose to withdraw the case, leading the court to dismiss the plea as withdrawn. The bench, however, granted the petitioners explicit liberty to move an appropriate application before the High Court to seek variance of its original order. To recap, vide the impugned order, the High Court had strictly ordered the swift removal of the statue from the Port Authority land, holding that it was installed in “gross violation” of local laws and constructed entirely illegally.
A division bench of the High Court, comprising Justice Valmiki Menezes and Justice Amit Jamsandekar, severely pulled up the local authorities and also the Goa state administration for being a mere “bystander” and allowing the statue to be installed illegally on central land. “We believe that where issues of law and order are involved, such as the present one, it is only the State through its agencies such as the Police Force, Executive Magistrate and other such authorities, can adequately quell such incidents and ensure public safety and property of individuals is preserved. In the present case, what is even more serious is that we see a clear invasion of property of a Major Port and the State has acted as a mere bystander and has in fact tacitly colluded with the perpetrators of the invasion without offering any assistance to prevent the criminal trespass,” the division bench observed in the detailed order passed on April 7.
According to the Port Authority’s initial plea before the High Court, despite repeated formal complaints submitted to the local Bogda Police Station and various other administrative authorities, there had been absolute inaction from the state machinery. The plea further alleged a forcible encroachment of the valuable land at Vasco-da-Gama by local persons, who were reportedly backed by MLA Sankalp Amonkar, his wife, and other local corporators. The High Court noted that despite continuous pleas relating to a potential law and order situation that might be created, no proactive action was taken by the authorities. It heavily criticised the Goa Government for its legal argument that since the land in question is owned by the Port authorities, its own CISF personnel and private security could take action against the illegality.
“The incident may as well have taken place at an Airport, Railway property or such other installation under the security of the Central Forces such as the CISF; would the State take the same arguments that it has raised during the hearing, that its police force and Executive does not have the duty to intervene and prevent an invasion of such installation or property which is vested in say, an Airport Authority or for that matter, as in this case a Port Authority. The State cannot be heard to say that the Authority or installation is free to use Central Forces to protect possession of its properties from trespass or destruction,” the High Court sternly observed. The High Court further stated that the Bogda Police Station’s senior officer ought to have taken a definitive call on whether to register a regular FIR based upon the allegations in the complaint, which the judges opined, clearly revealed a cognizable offence of criminal trespass under Section 329 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
ലഘു വിവരണം മോർമുഗാവോ പോർട്ട് അതോറിറ്റിയുടെ ഭൂമിയിൽ നിയമവിരുദ്ധമായി സ്ഥാപിച്ച ഛത്രപതി ശിവാജി മഹാരാജിന്റെ പ്രതിമ നീക്കം ചെയ്യണമെന്ന ബോംബെ ഹൈക്കോടതി ഉത്തരവിൽ ഇടപെടാൻ സുപ്രീം കോടതി വിസമ്മതിച്ചു. ഇതേത്തുടർന്ന് ഹർജിക്കാർ കേസ് പിൻവലിച്ചു. പ്രാദേശിക എംഎൽഎയുടെയും മറ്റും പിന്തുണയോടെ പോർട്ട് ഭൂമി കൈയേറി പ്രതിമ സ്ഥാപിച്ചപ്പോൾ ഗോവ സർക്കാർ കാഴ്ചക്കാരനായി നിന്നതിനെ ഹൈക്കോടതി രൂക്ഷമായി വിമർശിച്ചിരുന്നു. സുരക്ഷാ ചുമതല സിഐഎസ്എഫിനാണെന്ന് പറഞ്ഞ് സംസ്ഥാന പോലീസിന് ഉത്തരവാദിത്തത്തിൽ നിന്ന് ഒഴിഞ്ഞ് മാറാനാകില്ലെന്നും കോടതി വ്യക്തമാക്കിയിരുന്നു.
(With inputs from Livelaw)
For more details: Navamalayalam.com