Arming people to counter Naxalism may be unconstitutional: SC

“How can they create SPOs (special police officers)? How can you arm them and let loose on the people. How can you permit such a force in the country? You rely on 1861 law (Police Act) which was made during British time when they were ruler. We have serious doubts about constitutional validity of such appointment,” the bench said.

The court said it was very easy to arm the people by giving them Rs 3000 per month,which is a big money in the region where acute poverty is prevailing.

Further,the Bench said though the government was taking the plea that SPOs are appointed from the local population as they are aware of the difficult terrain and other factors,it was in a way dividing the people of the region.

“It is deeply disturbing. We have serious doubts about such appointment. It’s dangerous that you just recruit them just because they can fire. It is dividing people one against the others. We want to know what is the procedure,tenure of the appointment in such force,” the bench said asking the governments to file their detail report on it by May 2.

It also said it was concerned with the life and liberty of the SPOs who may also have suffered and “we are of the considered opinion that this (SPOs) can’t go”.

In the meantime,Chhattisgarh government agreed to conduct a probe by a sitting High Court judge into the cases in which two villages were put on fire and social activist Swami Agnivesh was attacked in a separate incident by a group of people allegedly consisting of SPOs and Salwa Judum volunteers when he was visiting a Naxal region near Dantewada.

The court passed the order while hearing a petition against the existence of Salwa Judum in Naxal-hit regions of the state to fight the Maoists.

The petition had been filed by sociologist Nandini Sundar,historian Ramchandra Guha,former bureaucrat E A S Sarma and others seeking a direction to the state government to refrain from allegedly supporting Salwa Judum.

The apex court has been monitoring the steps taken by the state government to disband Salwa Judum and also the measures taken by it for the relief and rehabilitation of the tribals who were caught in the crossfire between the Maoists and the security forces.

It has also asked the authorities to free schools and ashrams from the occupation of the security forces.

Earlier in February 2009 also,the court had questioned on how the government could arm common people or those associated with Salwa Judum,a people’s movement to combat Maoists in Chhattisgarh.