New Delhi: A group of retired civil servants on Tuesday asked Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana to intervene and put an end to the idea of ‘bulldozer justice’, saying it is now becoming the norm rather than the exception across many states.
Writing an open letter as part of the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), 90 former civil servants said the Supreme court should take suo-motu cognizance of the “illegal detention, bulldozing of residences and police violence on protesters” in Uttar Pradesh following protests against alleged insulting remarks made by BJP spokespersons on Prophet Muhammad.
“The demolition drive and the abuse of municipal and civic laws for political ends is just one element of a larger policy for converting the administrative and police apparatus into an instrument of brutal majoritarian repression [in Uttar Pradesh,” they said in the letter.
There are “explicit directions” to invoke the National Security Act 1980 and the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act 1986 to “brutally quell any protest”, the former civil servants claimed.
“The policy has the sanction of the highest levels of the Government and while local level officials and police personnel are certainly answerable for arbitrary use of power, the real culpability lies at the highest levels of the political executive. It is this corruption of the edifice of constitutional governance which requires the Supreme Court to step in and stem the rot,” the letter says.
“What is even more alarming is that the idea of ‘bulldozer justice’, of inflicting brutal punishment on citizens who dare to protest lawfully or criticise the government or express dissent by using ostensibly legal instruments, is now becoming the norm rather than the exception across many Indian states,” it adds.
The problem is no longer just ‘excesses’ of the police and the administration at the local level but the fact that the very idea of the rule of law, of ‘due process’, of being treated as ‘innocent until proven guilty’ is “being turned upside down”.
“What we have seen in Prayagraj, in Kanpur, in Saharanpur and many other towns which have a sizeable Muslim population, follows a pattern and is politically directed,” they said.
There is a sense of impunity and the arrogance of majoritarian power which seems to be driving this disregard for constitutional values and principles, the CCG said.
The signatories include former Union home secretary G.K. Pillai, former foreign secretary Sujatha Singh, former Indian Police Service (IPS) officers Julio Ribeiro, Avinash Mohananey, Maxwell Pereira and A.K. Samanta, and former social justice secretary Anita Agnihotri.
The former civil servants also supported a plea sent to the CJI on June 14, 2022 by some group of former judges of the apex court, high courts and leading advocates, requesting him to take suo motu cognizance of the recent acts in Uttar Pradesh.
A writ petition against the demolition of allegedly unauthorised constructions has also been filed by the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind before the bench of Justices Bopanna and Vikram Nath. After a preliminary hearing, the apex court said that “everything should be fair” and authorities should strictly follow the due procedure under the law.
The BJP on June 5 suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal after their controversial remarks sparked an unprecedented diplomatic backlash.
“We believe that unless the judiciary at the highest level steps in to intervene, swiftly, firmly and decisively, the entire edifice of constitutional governance that has been so carefully and meticulously constructed over the last seventy two years, is likely to collapse,” said the letter signed by 90 former civil servants.
The full statement, with the list of signatories, has been reproduced below.
§
20 June 2022
To
The Hon’ble Chief Justice of India,
Supreme Court of India, New Delhi
Dear Chief Justice of India,
We, the members of the Constitutional Conduct Group comprising former civil servants, have read the appeal sent to you on June 14, 2022 by a select group of former judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts and leading advocates, requesting you to take suo-motu cognizance of the recent acts in Uttar Pradesh of illegal detention, bulldozing of residences and police violence on protesters and those in police custody following protests against certain objectionable remarks made by BJP spokespersons.
We fully support this plea and urge your immediate intervention. We believe that unless the judiciary at the highest level steps in to intervene, swiftly, firmly and decisively, the entire edifice of constitutional governance that has been so carefully and meticulously constructed over the last seventy two years, is likely to collapse.
We are aware that since this appeal for suo-motu cognizance of the shocking incidents in Uttar Pradesh was made to you, a writ petition against the demolition of allegedly unauthorized constructions has been filed by the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind before the bench of Justices Bopanna and Vikram Nath and that after the preliminary hearing, the response of the State Government has been sought and a hearing will take place next week. While the legality or otherwise of the arbitrary, motivated and wanton destruction of the properties of alleged protesters, all of whom belong to the minority community, is being considered by this bench, and hopefully this will prevent further precipitate and highhanded action by the State Government as far as demolitions are concerned, we believe that the issues raised by former judges and other lawyers are much wider and relate to the complete subversion of state policy for vicious, ideological ends.
The demolition drive and the abuse of municipal and civic laws for political ends is just one element of a larger policy for converting the administrative and police apparatus into an instrument of brutal majoritarian repression. There are explicit directions to invoke the National Security Act 1980 and the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act 1986, to brutally quell any protest. The policy has the sanction of the highest levels of the Government and while local level officials and police personnel are certainly answerable for arbitrary use of power, the real culpability lies at the highest levels of the political executive. It is this corruption of the edifice of constitutional governance which requires the Supreme Court to step in and stem the rot.
As former civil servants who have spent several decades in the service of the Constitution, we are particularly alarmed that the threat we currently face is completely unprecedented. It is no longer just a case of ‘excesses’ of the police and the administration at the local level which can be brought under check by higher levels of administration and political authority, it is the fact that the very idea of the Rule of Law, of ‘due process’, of being treated as ‘innocent until proven guilty’ is being turned upside down. What we have seen in Prayagraj, in Kanpur, in Saharanpur and many other towns which have a sizeable Muslim population, follows a pattern and is politically directed. What is even more alarming is that the idea of ‘bulldozer justice’, of inflicting brutal punishment on citizens who dare to protest lawfully or criticize the Government or express dissent by using ostensibly legal instruments, is now becoming the norm rather than the exception across many Indian States. There is a sense of impunity and the arrogance of majoritarian power which seems to be driving this disregard for constitutional values and principles.
We believe that the immediacy of the threat is critical and we join hands with the former judges and the advocates who have petitioned you, in urging you to take cognizance of the situation and intervene appropriately.
SATYAMEVA JAYATE
Yours faithfully,
Constitutional Conduct Group (90 signatories, as below)
1. Anita Agnihotri IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI
2. Salahuddin Ahmad IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
3. S.P. Ambrose IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoI
4. Anand Arni RAS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
5. J.L. Bajaj IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Administrative Reforms and Decentralisation Commission, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh
6. G. Balachandhran IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
7. Vappala Balachandran IPS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
8. Gopalan Balagopal IAS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
9. Chandrashekar Balakrishnan IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Coal, GoI
10. Rana Banerji RAS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
11. Sharad Behar IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
12. Aurobindo Behera IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha
13. Madhu Bhaduri IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Portugal
14. Ravi Budhiraja IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI
15. Sundar Burra IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
16. Maneshwar Singh Chahal IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Secretary, Home, Govt. of Punjab
17. R. Chandramohan IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
18. Rachel Chatterjee IAS (Retd.) Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh
19. Kalyani Chaudhuri IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
20. Gurjit Singh Cheema IAS (Retd.) Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of Punjab
21. F.T.R. Colaso IPS (Retd.) Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka & former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir
22. Anna Dani IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
23. Vibha Puri Das IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI
24. P.R. Dasgupta IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI
25. Pradeep K. Deb IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI
26. Nitin Desai Former Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoI
27. M.G. Devasahayam IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana
28. A.S. Dulat IPS (Retd.) Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI
29. K.P. Fabian IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Italy
30. Prabhu Ghate IAS (Retd.) Former Addl. Director General, Department of Tourism, GoI
31. Arif Ghauri IRS (Retd.) Former Governance Adviser, DFID, Govt. of the United Kingdom (on deputation)
32. Gourisankar Ghosh IAS (Retd.) Former Mission Director, National Drinking Water Mission, GoI
33. H.S. Gujral IFoS (Retd.) Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab
34. Meena Gupta IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI
35. Wajahat Habibullah IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, GoI and former Chief Information Commissioner
36. Sajjad Hassan IAS (Retd.) Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of Manipur
37. Vinod C. Khanna IFS (Retd.) Former Additional Secretary, MEA, GoI
38. Brijesh Kumar IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI
39. Ish Kumar IPS (Retd.) Former DGP (Vigilance & Enforcement), Govt. of Telangana and former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission
40. Subodh Lal IPoS (Resigned) Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI
41. B.B. Mahajan IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Deptt. of Food, GoI
42. Harsh Mander IAS (Retd.) Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
43. Amitabh Mathur IPS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
44. Lalit Mathur IAS (Retd.) Former Director General, National Institute of Rural Development, GoI
45. Aditi Mehta IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
46. Shivshankar Menon IFS (Retd.) Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security Adviser
47. Sunil Mitra IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI
48. Noor Mohammad IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, Govt. of India
49. Avinash Mohananey IPS (Retd.) Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim
50. Satya Narayan Mohanty IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission
51. Deb Mukharji IFS (Retd.) Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal
52. Shiv Shankar Mukherjee IFS (Retd.) Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
53. Gautam Mukhopadhaya IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Myanmar
54. Pranab S. Mukhopadhya IAS (Retd.) Former Director, Institute of Port Management, GoI
55. T.K.A. Nair IAS (Retd.) Former Adviser to Prime Minister of India
56. P.A. Nazareth IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Egypt and Mexico
57. P. Joy Oommen IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh
58. S.K. Pachauri IAS (Retd.) Former Director General, National Productivity Council, GoI
59. Amitabha Pande IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI
60. Maxwell Pereira IPS (Retd.) Former Joint Commissioner of Police, Delhi
61. G.K. Pillai IAS (Retd.) Former Home Secretary, GoI
62. R. Poornalingam IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI
63. Rajesh Prasad IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to the Netherlands
64. Rajdeep Puri IRS (Resigned) Former Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, GoI
65. T.R. Raghunandan IAS (Retd.) Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, GoI
66. V.P. Raja IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission
67. K. Sujatha Rao IAS (Retd.) Former Health Secretary, GoI
68. Satwant Reddy IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoI
69. Vijaya Latha Reddy IFS (Retd.) Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI
70. Julio Ribeiro IPS (Retd.) Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former Ambassador to Romania
71. Aruna Roy IAS (Resigned)
72. A.K. Samanta IPS (Retd.) Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of West Bengal
73. Deepak Sanan IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh
74. N.C. Saxena IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI
75. A. Selvaraj IRS (Retd.) Former Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Chennai, GoI
76. Ardhendu Sen IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
77. Abhijit Sengupta IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI
78. Aftab Seth IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Japan
79. Ashok Kumar Sharma IFoS (Retd.) Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat
80. Ashok Kumar Sharma IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia
81. Navrekha Sharma IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Indonesia
82. Mukteshwar Singh IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission
83. Sujatha Singh IFS (Retd.) Former Foreign Secretary, GoI
84. Tara Ajai Singh IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka
85. Tirlochan Singh IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI
86. Narendra Sisodia IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI
87. P.S.S. Thomas IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission
88. Hindal Tyabji IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir
89. Ramani Venkatesan IAS (Retd.) Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra
90. Rudi Warjri IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica