SC to Hear Bail Plea of Whistleblower Anand Rai, MP Govt to file Reply

The Supreme Court will hear a  bail plea of ​​whistleblower Anand Rai. The Madhya Pradesh government has to file its reply in the Supreme Court, today. On Monday, the Supreme Court had issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh government. Anand Rai has challenged the order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, in which the High Court refused to grant bail in a case related to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act.

Last year, On December 12 a Single Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Indore denied bail and rejected his appeal under Section 14 (a) (2) of the SC/ST Act.
The first information report (FIR) in the case was registered on November 15, 2022, after one Vikas Pargi of Bilpank in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam district lodged a complaint under sections 294, 341, 353, 332, 146,147, 336, 506 of the Indian Penal Code and several Sections of the SC/ST Act.
According to the FIR, Pargi had gone to attend a Birsa Munda Jayanti celebration in Badachapara on the day of filing the complaint. He was following the convoy of local Members of Parliament, Legislative Assembly Members, and the District Collector who had gone to attend various activities organised by the government in memory of Birsa Munda. Around 1 p.m., near the hamlet Dharad on the Bhatibadodia route, he witnessed several workers obstructing the Organization convoy Jayas, sloganeering and pelting stones, causing bruises on the gunman of the District Collector, according to the FIR.
The complainant had named 40-50 other assailants including Anand Rai.
Despite the fact that there were no specific allegations of abuse or acts falling under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 or the Indian Penal Code made out in the FIR, the petitioner as well as other co-accused was dragged into the said frivolous proceedings.