CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has quashed the criminal proceedings initiated against 46 persons for allegedly staging a protest against a tar mixing plant near Ooty.
The case pertains to a protest held in 2023 at Devala village, near Panthalur in the Nilgiris district, where a tar mixing plant (PRCC) has been in operation. It was alleged that local residents were reporting higher rates of serious illnesses, such as cancer.
Residents of the locality had raised concerns over pollution caused by smoke and dust emissions from the plant and demanded its relocation. They alleged that the tar-mixing plant was the primary reason for such illnesses. In this regard, a group of local residents conducted a demonstration at Devala Bazaar.
Subsequently, the Devala Police registered a case against 46 individuals, including Jameela, Shamna, Gopinathan, and Saleem, alleging that they had unlawfully assembled, conducted a protest, and caused public nuisance (offences under Sections 143 & 188 IPC).
Aggrieved by the registration of the case, all 46 accused approached the Madras High Court seeking to quash the proceedings pending before the Pandalur Court.
Justice M. Nirmal Kumar, who heard the matter, relied on a precedent laid down by the Madurai Bench of the High Court, which held that initiating criminal proceedings against individuals for democratically expressing dissent against the government amounts to a violation of fundamental rights.
Observing that the protest was an expression of democratic dissent against the functioning of the tar mixing plant, the Court held that the continuation of the criminal proceedings would be unsustainable in law. Accordingly, the Court quashed the case registered against the petitioners.