New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to Rajasthan’s Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police on a petition by 12 tribal women of Kota district seeking to save their dwellings from being razed by a mine owner.
Issuing notice, returnable in four weeks, an apex court vacation bench of Justice P.C. Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy asked the administration to “protect the well-being” of the poor tribals, some of whom were present in court.
When senior counsel Lili Thomas and Saju Jacob urged the court to direct that the demolition of the tribals’ be stopped, the bench again emphasised the words “well-being.”
Twelve Adivasi women of Julmi village have moved the top court seeking its intervention in protecting their houses, located on two bighas of land, from being demolished.
The mine owner, who claims to have mining rights over the land on which Adivasis have their houses, has already razed 42 houses on another piece of land.
Three Adivasi women – Anita, Rekha and Guddi Bai – who were present in the court room, said that the mine owner has bulldozed their pipal tree and two temples including that of Lord Shiva.