The Madras High Court recently questioned whether citizens could be blamed for taking the law into their own hands when government authorities fail to act against illegal activities. [Baskaran Vs District Collector]
A Division Bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and B Pugalendhi made the observation on October 9 while examining the arrest of two villagers who had allegedly damaged cement pipes illegally installed near a waterbody in Tamil Nadu's Sivagangai district.
The Court noted that the villagers had approached the authorities against the unauthorised construction but received no response.
"When the official machinery fails, can we blame the citizenry for acting on their own?" the Bench asked.
The judges, however, clarified that they could not condone the villagers' actions.
"As Judges, it will not be appropriate for us to take the discussion further. But, we have no doubt in our minds that the continued incarceration of the two individuals is not warranted. This is all the more so because their bail petitions were dismissed by projecting falsehood before the Sessions Court," the Court added.
The case arose from a petition filed by residents of Ammapatti and Nagappanpatti villages challenging activities undertaken by a commercial entity, Kwality Shutters.
The company had installed solar panels over 65 acres of privately owned land after obtaining the necessary permissions. However, to access the property, a mud road was constructed across a water catchment area adjoining an irrigation tank.
Cement pipes were also laid beneath the road to facilitate water flow. The Court recorded that neither the road nor the pipes had been installed with permission from the authorities.
The villagers alleged that the construction obstructed the natural flow of water into nearby irrigation tanks.
Following protests against the construction, the police registered a criminal case on September 15. Two villagers, Natarajan and Xavier Kennedy, were arrested on September 23 and remanded to judicial custody.
Their bail applications were subsequently dismissed by the Principal sessions judge at Sivagangai on October 6.
During the High Court proceedings, it emerged that the sessions court had been informed that solar panels worth ₹10 lakh had been damaged.
However, when the Bench directly questioned the police, an officer admitted that no solar panels had been damaged. The damage was confined to cement pipes installed without permission.
The High Court expressed concern that the villagers had remained incarcerated on the basis of false allegations.
It also emphasised the importance of protecting environmental activism.
"We need persons with passion to stand up for the cause of ecology. If such persons are made to languish in jail on false allegations, that would stifle even genuine activism. They alone can stand between protection of ecology and corporate greed," the Court said.
The Bench further observed that people willing to confront environmentally damaging activities were necessary to protect ecology from corporate greed.
Although the judges acknowledged that the villagers might have exceeded legal limits, they said the circumstances could not be ignored.
The Bench noted that it did not have the roster to hear bail applications and therefore, could not directly grant relief.
However, invoking its supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution, it directed the principal sessions judge at Sivagangai to hold a special sitting at 11 AM on October 10 to hear fresh bail applications filed by the two villagers.
The High Court directed that the applications be disposed of by Saturday afternoon, while refraining from indicating what decision the sessions court should take.
The matter has been listed for October 12 to report compliance.
Advocate K Navaneetharaja represented the petitioners.
Government Advocates M R Priyanka Jothi, A Shanmugam, S Srinivasa Raghavan and I Murugesan appeared for the respective respondents.
[Read Judgment]