The Supreme Court issued notice to the Madhya Pradesh government on Monday in response to a plea filed by whistleblower Anand Rai challenging the High Court’s decision to deny bail in a case involving the Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe Act.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud issued notice to Madhya Pradesh on Anand Rai’s plea and scheduled a hearing for Friday.
The plea was submitted by advocate-on-record Sumeer Sodhi, who was supported by senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha.
Anand Rai has been incarcerated since November 15, 2022, according to the petition. On December 12, 2022, 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.
The petitioner stated that he is an activist and whistleblower who exposed the unpopular Vypam Scam, in which the investigation unearthed illegalities involving the wards of top-tier politicians and bureaucrats who were selected in the Madhya Pradesh medical entrance examination without even appearing for it.
“The whole scam had political patronage. As a corollary, he suffered various transfers and enquiry from the hands of the government,” the petition said.
“The present case is nothing but another bout of harassment and conspiracies hatched against the Petitioner by the government functionaries who intend to wreak vengeance at every possible opportunity against the Petitioner for having whistle-blowed the scam. The Petitioner is a law-abiding citizen and has neither been convicted by any Court in respect of any cognizable offence. The entire past record of the Applicant is unblemished and is without any objectionable nature except false implication in the cases launched due to political vendetta,” the petition said.
