Court Rules Anti-Naxalite/Maoist Tribal Militias Unconstitutional
India’s Supreme Court barred the state of Chhattisgarh or the central government from appointing so-called “special police officers” from among the tribal population to fight the Maoist rebels, saying that the Salwa Judum militia is unconstitutional, CNN/IBN reports.
The court also ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the attack on social activist Swami Agnivesh during his visit to Maoist-hit Chhattisgarh in March, the news channel said.
The issue of SPOs has arisen during the hearing of a petition against existence of Salwa Judum (vigilante groups) in Naxal-hit regions of the state to fight Maoists.
The petition was filed by sociologist Nandini Sundar, historian Ramachandra Guha, former bureaucrat E A S Sarma and others seeking a direction to the state government to refrain from allegedly supporting Salwa Judum.