State Vigilantism Must Be Stopped
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By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-06-14 08:51:50
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The India Commentary view
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It is surprising that in a democratic country that has a plethora of laws, professes to treat all citizens equally and gives the impression of following the rule of law , the law is being flouted and citizens are being punished just on the assumption of their involvement in a crime without the state feeling the need for following due process. The property of those alleged to be involved in stone pelting, rioting or any other form of protest are being razed with bulldozers without them being proven guilty of the crime in any court of law or without them being given time to respond to the charges against them or defend themselves as per law. This kind of state vigilantism is dangerous and disturbing as it shows that the country is being governed with a vicious agenda that seeks to treat some citizens as less equal and that state becomes the judge, jury and executioner. What is even more surprising and disturbing is that despite several pleas being filed in courts, the judiciary is not treating the matter with the urgency it deserves and in the process, giving a free run to the state to indulge in such highhanded and blatantly illegal action.
This selective and unconstitutional use of force by the state needs to be stopped. Since it is clear that the state governments (the list is growing with UP, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam and Tripura and the civic authorities in Delhi already guilty of such highhandedness) are not going to stop this by themselves and have in fact been emboldened by the lack of urgent response from the judiciary, it is upon the judiciary to intervene and protect the rights of the citizen. The very fact that action is being taken by the state without following due process should have prodded the Supreme Court to take suo motu action. Instead, the Supreme Court, the MP High Court and the Allahabad High Court are sitting on petitions from aggrieved citizens asking for relief in the matter. The injustice of such action is clear when one finds that the house that was demolished in Prayagraj belonged to the wife of the alleged accused. So now the state is saying that all relatives of an accused will be punished for his or her alleged action which has not been proven in a court of law. This absurd, illegal and extra-constitutional behaviour of the state must be stopped and the courts must intervene speedily.
