Andhra HC asks kin of Basavaraju to approach cops
Andhra Pradesh high court orders slain Maoist leaders' families to seek body custody from Chhattisgarh police after post-mortem completion.
The Andhra Pradesh high court on Saturday asked the family members of slain Maoist leader Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju to approach the Chhattisgarh police authorities and seek custody of his body, as they had agreed to hand over the bodies of all the Maoists killed in May 21 encounter to the relatives after completion of post-mortem examinations.
A division bench of the high court comprising justice N Harinath and justice Y Lakshman Rao also passed a similar order in the case of another Maoist leader, Sajja Venkata Nageswara Rao alias Rajanna, who was also among those killed.
HT has seen a copy of the judgment.
The high court heard two independent petitions filed by Basavaraju’s mother Bharatamma and Nageshwara Rao’s brother Sajja Srinivasa Rao, requesting that the Chhattisgarh police be directed to hand over the bodies of the slain Maoist leaders for performing the final rites.
The bench, without going into the issue of the territorial jurisdiction of the place of encounter, recorded the submission made by the advocate general of the Chhattisgarh government that the post-mortem examinations of the bodies would be completed by Saturday evening and the next formality is to hand over the dead bodies to the relatives of the deceased for performing the final rites.
The court asked the petitioners to approach the Chhattisgarh police authorities concerned and seek custody of the bodies of the deceased.
Arguing for the family members of the deceased, their counsel told the court that they were driven away from Chhattisgarh when they approached the police for collecting the bodies. “The family members are now literally under house arrest by the state police and they are unable to move out of their houses and as such seek indulgence of the court,” he said.
Advocate general of Chhattisgarh, who attended the hearing online, argued that the Andhra Pradesh high court had no jurisdiction to hear the petitions as the incident happened in their state. He said there was no documentary evidence to substantiate the allegations of the family members of the slain Maoists that the Chhattisgarh police had sent them back to Andhra Pradesh.
The advocate general of Andhra Pradesh high court also said that the family members should approach the Chhattisgarh high court as the bodies are not in the custody of any of the Andhra Pradesh state authorities.
Deputy Solicitor General appearing for the Union ministry of home affairs said that there could be a reason for not handing over the two bodies as it could also lead to the law and order situation. He added that under the guise of performing the final rites, there could be procession which might further escalate the law and order problem.
The Chhattisgarh advocate general said that the post-mortem examinations of all the bodies would be completed by the end of the day on Saturday. “After the completion of the post-mortem examinations, they would be handed over to the relatives of the deceased,” he said.
Basavaraju’s brother N Dhilleshwara Rao said that the high court had given a favourable judgment. “It has directed all those concerned to hand over the body of my brother to us,” he added.
