'Father Stan Swamy Has Taken Efforts For Tribal Welfare' : Madras High Court Allows Installation Of His Statute In Private Land

Quashing a notice issued by the State authorities, Justice M Dhandapani remarked that Fr Stan Swamy had taken a lot of efforts for the welfare of the tribal persons. The court also noted that citizens had a right to install statues in their private property and the only restriction was that communal conflicts should not result from such erection. In the present case, the court opined that the notice was improper and thus was inclined to set aside the same.

“When an allegation put forth against a person is not proved, then the said allegation is nullity. In the instant case, Fr. Stan Swamy taken more efforts for the welfare of Tribals and the issue on hand is erection of his statute / Stone pillar in the petitioner's private land. As a general principle, the law grants the citizens the right to install statues in their own private property. The only restriction is that such an erection of the statue should not bring any conflicts between two communities or in a way that would hurt the feelings of a particular society. There is no legal impediment if erection of statue at a private patta land is permitted,” the court said.

Piyush Sethia had approached the court to quash the notice issued by the Tahsildar of Nallampalli Taluk and to permit him to erect the stone pillar in Fr Stan Swamy's memory. Sethia informed the court that he was managing farm lands and was carrying out farming and watershed development activities.

Sethia submitted that through the Coop forest, he was teaching about sustainable farming and life style practices. He added that his mentor was late Fr Stan Swamy and to commemorate his life, he wanted to erect the stone pillar but this effort was interrupted by the notice by the authorities.

The State objected to the plea and submitted that Sethia had attempted to unveil the stone pillar without obtaining proper permission from the authorities. It was also submitted that the stone tablet related to a person who was related to Naxals and Maoists and that it would hamper the law and order of the area. The state also argued that recently, the tribal hamlets had turned into paradise for breeding anti-social elements and anti-government ideologies and thus unveiling the statue in such a sensitive area would cause communal clashes and tensions.

The court however noted that the issue of erecting a status in a private land was already well settled and the State could not interfere with the private life of citizens and his right to erect any statute within the private premises.

The court thus set aside the order of the Tahsildar and allowed the petition to erect the stone pillar of Fr Stan Swamy in his private land. The court also cautioned the petitioner to ensure that the public is not hindered while erecting the stone pillar.

Stan Swamy died in July 2021 as an undertrial in judicial custody in the Bhima Koregaon case, in which he was accused of having links with Naxalites.

Wonderful Person, Have Respect For His Work: Bombay HC Judge On Father Stan Swamy

Counsel for Petitioner: Dr. V. Suresh

Counsel for Respondents: Mr.U. Baranidharan Addl. Govt. Pleader, Mr.L. Baskaran Govt. Advocate (Crl. Side)

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 455

Case Title: Piyush Sethia v The District Collector and Others

Case No: W.P. No.200 of 2022