The wife of accused BJP member Pravesh Shukla in the Sidhi urination case has moved the Madhya Pradesh High Court challenging the state government's decision to invoke the National Security Act (NSA) against her husband. Shukla was also booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 after a video of him urinating on a tribal worker went viral.
In a habeas corpus plea filed through senior advocate Aniruddh Mishra on Thursday, Kanchan Shukla, wife of Pravesh, has alleged that the NSA had been invoked against her husband under political considerations. She also submitted that Pravesh Shukla had no criminal background.
She claimed that the NSA had been invoked following pressure from politically influential people and on the direction of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Advocate Aniruddh Mishra, talking to IANS said, "Our main prayer is to release him (Pravesh Shukla) as no offence under section 3(2) of the NSA is made out. The district collector invoked NSA under political pressure and he was guided by the Chief Minister."
The petition further noted, "The detention order violates the fundamental rights of the detenu as it is in violation of the Article 22 (5) of the constitution which provides the person so detained a right to make a representation against the detention not only before the advisory board but also to the detaining authority."
Advocate Mishra said the petition is likely to be heard by Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Vishal Mishra by next week. "A separate petition will also be moved against the razing of the house of Pravesh Shukla's family and rendering them all homeless. This entire case is politically motivated as the elections are just a few months away in Madhya Pradesh," Mishra added.
The incident caused a huge uproar in the state, following which, the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called the victim, Dashmat Rawat, to his official residence in Bhopal and washed his feet and also apologised for the inhuman act against him.
Shukla was arrested under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and eventually slapped with the NSA.