High Court notice to state on Mandsaur firing

INDORE: The

Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh high court

on Thursday issued showcause notices to the

state chief secretary

and

home secretary

, asking them why a Special Investigation Team (SIT) should not be formed to investigate the

Mandsaur firing

.

The petition seeks an FIR against the persons responsible for the death of five farmers in police firing and the death of a farmer in hospital, allegedly in police custody. It wants to know why police fired at "unarmed farmers protesting for their rights".

Senior advocate and Congress Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha argued on behalf of petitioners Kamlesh Patidar and Shankarlal Patidar in high court on Thursday. A division bench of Justice P K Jaiswal and Justice R K Dubey offered the petitioners liberty to plead as interveners in the petitions filed previously. However, advocate Tankha sought separate notices to be issued to the state in this petition.

When the court said that an inquiry commission has already been formed to investigate the matter, Tankha argued that the probe conducted by the commission was "for the benefit of the state and not for judicial purposes since the committee's findings held no legal authority". Tankha added that since farmers died in the firing, an FIR had to be registered by police.

The state government, through additional advocate general Sunil Jain, opposed the maintainability of the petition, saying it was politically motivated, and sought its dismissal. However, the court issued notices to all respondents in the petition and directed the state to submit its reply in four weeks.

Three other petitions have been filed on the farmer protests and Mandsaur violence, questioning the compensation given to the six victims, the loss to public property and seeking solutions to the problems faced by people due to the protest.


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