The wife of Pravesh Shukla, who was charged for urinating on a tribal man in the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh, has recently approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court to challenge the implementation of the National Security Act for his detention.
A video of Sukla showing urinating on a tribal man Dashmat Rawat had gone viral on the internet.
Shukla was subsequently arrested under relevant sections of the IPC and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Additionally, he was slapped with the NSA and is currently in custody.
Through her advocate Aniruddha Kumar Mishra, Kanchan Shukla filed a habeas corpus plea claiming that her husband’s detention was politically motivated.
She further alleged that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan influenced the Collector to invoke the stringent NSA provisions for his detention.
Confirming the development, advocate Mishra told the media that, “Our main prayer is to release him as no offense under section 3(2) of the NSA is made out. The Collector invoked NSA under political pressure and he was guided by the Chief Minister.”
The matter is expected to be presented before Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Vishal Mishra.
The petition argues that the detention order fails to specify the duration of Pravesh’s detention and doesn’t provide a specific reason for it.
The plea stated, “The detenu cannot be detained for an indefinite period and the same would not be justified for his family.”
It further contended that the detention order denies Pravesh an opportunity to make a representation against it, thus violating his fundamental rights as per Article 22(1) of the Indian Constitution, which allows a detainee to present their case before the detaining authority.
