The
petitioners are social workers and Members of Kisan Adivasi Sangathan', Kerala.
In villages of Morpani and Madikhoh of Hoshan- gabad District there was only
one school teacher employed in the Morpani school. The teacher was not
attending the school for the last one and half years. The petitioners 1 to 3
along with a large number of tribal women and children staged a peaceful
'dharna' in front of the office of Block Education Officer, Kesala demanding
appointment of two regular teachers in the schools located in tribal hamlets.
The petitioners' dismay, the local police initiated criminal proceedings
against the petitioners 1 to 3 and one old Adivasi widow aged about 65 years
who was not paid her wages by the said teacher, for an offence punishable
under Section 186 IPC on the allegations that the petitioners and the
Adivasi woman have obstructed public servants in discharge of their public
functions. In connection with the said criminal proceeding, the petitioners
were arrested, abused, beaten The Magistrate convicted the petitioners 1 to 3
and sentenced them to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one month
while acquitting the woman. It is stated that even after the pronouncement of
the judgment, the police once again abused them, made obscene gestures, beat
and took them to the penitentiary handcuffed. The fourth petitioner was arrested.
According to the petitioner, they all were working for the welfare of the
weaker sections and alse case down-trodden people in a peaceful manner but
they were inhumanly treated against all norms of decency by the police in utter
disregard of the repeated and consistent mandates of this Court and in utter
violation of their fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19 and 21
of the Constitution of India. The petitioner Sunil Gupta and Raj Narain though have served their one
month imprisonment they were not released from the jail but continued to be
detained on the allegation that they were wanted in two more cases, under Section 341 read with Section 34 IPC pending
in the .Court of 1st Class Magistrate, Hoshangabad and another in a case
registered as Criminal Case under Section
353, 148 and 149, IPC. The Court
proceedings disclosed. Even after the two petitioners have been sent to jail in
pursuance of their conviction for the offence under Section
186 IPC, In connection with the second case, Puru-
shottam Nayak was also remanded but later on released on bail on 26.4.1989.
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