HC asks govt to reply on pardhi community

Bhopal, Jan 16: Jabalpur High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to reply within three weeks on the matter of interim relief demanded for the Pardhis who were ousted from Chothia village in Multai tehsil last year. The bench of Chief Justice AK Patnaik and Justice Ajit Singh while hearing the plea concluded that enough time has been given and now the government should submit the reply.

Petitioner Anurag Modi demanded interim relief for the Pardhis. The petitioner has demanded that recommendations of National Commission for Denotified Tribe be implemented and all the officials of district administration including Betul Collector and Superintendent of Police (SP) and politicians should be prosecuted for their act of omission and commission in putting Pardhis' settlement on fire. The politicians named by commission include Revenue Minister Kamal Patel, Samajwadi Party MLA from Multai Sunilam and Congress MLA from Masod Sukhdev Panse.

Arguing the case, senior lawyer NS Kale said Pardhis are still bearing the brunt of British legacy. He also named the Minister Kamal Patel for his alleged involvement in the incident. On the contrary the government advocate demanded 6 weeks time for submitting requisite details but court declined the request on the ground that already enough time has elapsed. Remarkably, Pardhis were driven out of their village on September 11 following an incident wherein a woman was allegedly raped by a few pardhis. Enraged villagers led by local leaders set the houses of pardhis ablaze and even razed the structures to rubble using bulldozer.

Later, a pardhi couple was found dead in the village. Though, their daughter claimed that her mother was raped and thrown into a well and father was strangulated to death, the autopsy held the death as natural which later was contradicted. Chairman and other members of the National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes also visited the place and even submitted an adverse report on it bringing role of public representatives and officials under scanner. Later, Anurag Modi of Shramik Adivasi Sangathan filed PIL with the Jabalpur High Court on October 27 and alleged the officials including Collector and SP and public representatives including Revenue Minister Kamal Patel for their dubious role.