'They Are Ordinary People, Not Criminals': High Court Asks Govt To Look Into Cases Registered Against K-Rail Silverline Protesters

The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the Government to look into the criminal cases registered against the citizens who opposed laying of survey stones for the K-Rail Project. 

Justice Devan Ramachandran observed that even the Government has realised that a project of this nature cannot be executed without the support and help of the citizenry as a whole which is evident from their subsequent orders directing the SIA to be complete only electronically or via geotagging.

Thus, it was of the view that Government must engage its attention to those citizens who are implicated in charges for having opposed the physical SIA and it should decide whether they should continue to bear the brunt of such proceedings.

Even they now recognize through their subsequent order directing the SIA to be completed only electronically or geotagging that a project of this nature cannot be executed without the support and help of the citizenry as a whole. 

The development comes in the petition filed by Kottayam resident Muralikrishnan, questioning the installation of concrete stones marked as K-Rail.

When the matter was taken up yesterday, Special Government Pleader Advocate T.P Hood and Advocate Dinesh Rao, Standing Counsel for K-rail Corporation, affirmed that the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has been stopped and has not been resumed and also submitted that it will not be done without further notification.

Pertinently, Advocate Jayashankar Nair,  Counsel for the Central Government, reiterated that the Government of India has not even now approved the DPR and that there is a lot of confusion remaining with respect to its technical aspects and also feasibility. 

The Counsel Appearing for the Petitioners Advocates Mohammed Shah and Preetha, however, pointed out that a large amount of money has already been spent by either the K-Rail or the Government of Kerala without the project even being approved by the Competent Authorities and that this is an unnecessary expenditure. Several citizens have been charged with criminal cases for the reason that they have opposed what they call an illegal and unauthorized social impact assessment.

They are not criminals; they are ordinary people, remarked Justice Ramachandran 

The Government Pleader submitted he will get instructions on this matter.

The Court also has directed the Railway Board to inform the Court before the next posting whether there has been any progress from the stand they have taken earlier with respect to the DPR. 

The Court had, in its previous order, recorded that the Social Impact Assessment had been stopped, and since there is no chance from that position, the Court deemed it appropriate to wait for some more time. Thereby the matter has been posted for 26th September. 

Case Title: Muralikrishnan v. State of Kerala & connected matters