The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared the appointment of salwa judum and special police officials (SPOs) from among locals to counter Maoists in difficult terrain as “unconstitutional”. It ordered that the practice be stopped and such SPOs and units disarmed and disbanded.
The top court also ordered a CBI inquiry into the violence in three villages — Morpalli, Tadmetla and Timmapuram — in March this year which allegedly involved such SPOs, and also into an attack on social activist Swami Agnivesh, who had visited the area on a fact-finding mission.
“The state of Chhattisgarh, immediately desist from using SPOs in any manner or form in any activities, directly or indirectly, aimed at controlling, countering, mitigating or otherwise eliminating Maoist/Naxalite activities in the state,” a bench comprising Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and S.S. Nijjar said in an order passed on a PIL by academics Nandani Sundar and Ramchandra Guha and some social activists.
“It is also equally clear to us that in this policy, of using local youth, jointly devised by the Union and the states facing Maoist insurgency, as implemented in the state of Chhattisgarh, the young tribals have literally become cannon fodder in the killing fields of Dantewada and other districts of Chhattisgarh,” the bench said.
“The case of SPOs in Chhattisgarh represent an extreme form of transgression of constitutional boundaries,” the bench said.
Since the Centre had approved the engagement of SPOs in anti-Moist operations by the Raman Singh government to help the security forces in difficult forest terrain, and was providing financial aid to the state, the court asked the Union government not to extend any Central assistance for employment of SPOs. “The Union of India cease forthwith from using any of its funds in supporting, directly or indirectly, the recruitment of SPOs for the purposes of engaging in any form of counter-insurgency activities against Maoist groups,” the order said.
The Chhattisgarh government was directed to disarm the SPOs and, at the most, put them on other duties, like traffic control and other non-security-related jobs. Since the SPOs and their families face threats from Maoists, the top court directed the state government to provide appropriate security to their family members.
The petitioners had raised the issue of salwa judum, Koya Commandos and SPOs in their PIL, alleging that the recruitment of such “private” personnel and engaging them in security operations by providing them arms was “unconstitutional and illegal” as they were not fully trained in anti-insurgency operations.
Allowing their plea, the top court said “allowing the maintenance of the law into private hands is unconstitutional and also violates the human rights of any person”. The state government instead was directed to investigate the charges of violence against salwa judum, Koya Commandos and SPOs and register FIRs where necessary.
Regarding the attack on the three villages and alleged assault on Agnivesh, the bench said, “We order the CBI to immediately take over the investigation for taking appropriate legal action against the individuals responsible for it.”
The CBI was given six weeks to submit a status report on its preliminary investigation.