Madhya Pradesh Court Fines Collector Rs 2 Lakh For Wrongful Detention Under Anti-Terror Law

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has come down heavily on the Shahdol administration for gross negligence in invoking the National Security Act (NSA) against an innocent man, ordering contempt proceedings against the district collector and imposing a personal fine of Rs 2 lakh.

A division bench comprising Justice Vivek Agarwal and Justice AK Singh found serious procedural lapses in the NSA order passed by Shahdol Collector Dr Kedar Singh, which led to the wrongful incarceration of a local youth, Sushant Vaishya, for over a year. The court remarked sharply, "Clerks write orders, and officers merely sign them," underscoring the casual manner in which the case was handled.

The bench directed Collector Dr Kedar Singh to personally pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to Sushant Vaishya, the victim of the unlawful detention. Additionally, the court issued a contempt notice to the Collector for filing a misleading affidavit and scheduled the next hearing for November 25.

The case originated when Shahdol farmer Hiramani Vaishya filed a petition challenging the NSA proceedings against his son. He pointed out that the Collector's order dated September 9, 2024, mentioned another individual's name Neerajkant Dwivedi instead of his son's, highlighting grave clerical and procedural errors. The High Court was told that the Collector had relied solely on statements from sand contractor employees and did not examine any independent witnesses.

During the hearing, the Collector admitted to mistakenly writing Dwivedi's name but claimed that the cases of both individuals were heard simultaneously. The bench, however, rejected this defense, calling it an "alarming sign of bureaucratic carelessness." It further noted that the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) had approved the Collector's NSA order without proper scrutiny.

In a stern observation, the bench stated that invoking the NSA is an extreme measure meant only for those who pose a genuine threat to public order. "It cannot be used as a tool of convenience," the judges said, expressing displeasure over the misuse of the law.

The court directed the Chief Secretary to review the NSA proceedings and take disciplinary action against both Collector Dr Kedar Singh and ACS (Home) SS Shukla. It also demanded the complete file of the NSA approval process from the Shahdol administration to verify whether proper legal procedure had been followed.

Meanwhile, petitioner's counsel Brimendra Pathak revealed that the 2022 criminal case cited as the basis for the NSA order had already been settled through a Lok Adalat, making the Collector's decision "baseless and malicious."