The High Court of Andhra Pradesh passed serious comments against the AP DGP, the Mangalagiri police and also the lower courts in Guntur on the issue of sending SCs to jail in an ‘atrocities’ case. The High Court objected to the manner in which the ‘atrocities’ case was booked despite knowing that the accused were SCs belonging to the Amaravati area. The HC judge asked whether the DGP was supervising law and order at all. How can the ‘atrocities’ case be booked against SCs?

The HC issued notices to the Mangalagiri police, Mangalagiri Junior Civil Judge and Guntur 4th Additional Sessions Special Judge to give their explanatory reports on why they overlooked the fact that the ‘atrocities’ case was filed against the SCs. The HC judge also asked how the police remanded the SCs when their remand report did not mention serious charges against them. On the one hand, the police were saying the arrests were made to prevent clashes. But there were no details of persons with whom the Amaravati SCs were clashing.

The High Court granted bail to the 7 Amaravati farmers who have been jailed for the last 20 days. The HC judge asked whether there was a mechanism to ensure human rights in the State. The judge also posed a series of questions to the public prosecutor on why the SCs were remanded to judicial custody when they were booked under bailable sections. Not a single reason was given in the police remand report to justify the arrest of the Amaravati SCs.

The HC judge commented seriously that the police and the judicial officer failed to follow the Supreme Court guidelines on protection of human rights. The Guntur Rural SP, Mangalagiri DSP, the lower courts and the judicial officer were answerable in this regard.