Hooch tragedy: HC impleads forest dept head, directs separate survey of Kalvarayan Hills
A division bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice C Kumarappan also granted further time to the State to complete its inspection of the present socio-economic status of the SC/ST people living in hamlets in the Kalvarayan Hills region.
Madras High Court
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday impleaded the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) in the suo motu case initiated to protect the socio-economic status of the people living in the Kalvarayan Hills region. It also directed the forest department to conduct separate inspections in the region.
A division bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice C Kumarappan also granted further time to the State to complete its inspection of the present status of the people living in the villages of Kalvarayan Hills. Earlier, the court had suggested that the Chief Minister and other ministers visit the area to assess the situation.
The matter was posted on August 21 for further submission.
The bench had taken suo motu cognizance to protect the socio-economic status of the downtrodden Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) people residing in various villages in the Kalvarayan Hills region of Kallakurichi district, followed by the deaths of over 60 people in the recent hooch tragedy.
The judges had been shocked over the history of the Kalvarayan Hills, which was annexed with the Indian territory only in 1976. Until then, three Jagirdar (feudal officers) families had ruled over the tribal people and treated them as slaves.
The bench had also expressed its disappointment over the fact that the government had provided voting rights to the villagers of Kalvarayan Hills only in 1996, twenty years after annexation.
The judges then criticised the state government stating that the region was still underdeveloped and lacked basic facilities due to economic backwardness and unemployment owing to the government's neglect.
Without any means of livelihood, the people living in these areas are being forced to resort to manufacturing illicit liquor, the bench had observed, and directed authorities to conduct an inspection in the Kalvarayan Hills region to arrive at a solution to uplift the people.
Earlier, the bench had appointed senior counsel KR Tamilmani as amicus curie and directed him to file a report. It had also granted liberty to the media and other interested persons to visit the region and file independent reports.
Senior counsel KR Tamilmani had submitted that no basic infrastructure, such as roads, bus facilities, schools, and hospitals, was provided by the State to the villagers. Pregnant women in the villages are forced to travel 40 kilometres in two-wheelers to reach hospitals, he stated.
After the submission, the bench had asked Advocate General (AG) PS Raman to "imagine if we were living in that region, what would be our mindset."
