Madhya Pradesh: Terrorists are trying to grab land in Ashoknagar, tribals are trapped in bonded labour, High Court gives strict instructions
SP Ashoknagar was directed to provide full security to Chhotelal and Munnibai and personally monitor the case. The court also asked to ensure that Chhotelal and Munnibai are allowed to stay in their village and police is deployed for their security.
Published on: 26 Feb 2025, 11:12 am
Bhopal. A serious case of land grabbing and bonded labour has come to light in Isagarh of Ashoknagar district of Madhya Pradesh. Unruly and politically influential people were trying to grab the land of a poor tribal family by forcibly keeping them in bonded labour. When the matter reached the High Court, the judges took it very seriously and gave strict instructions to the Collector and SP to investigate.
Munnibai, a resident of Isagarh, had approached the High Court to save her 8 hectares of land. During the hearing, she became emotional and cried and told that her husband Chhotelal has been forcibly made a bonded labourer by the former village sarpanch Hardeep Randhawa. She told the court that her land is registered in her name, but stubborn people are plotting to sell it to someone else. After this testimony of Munnibai, the court immediately ordered that her husband Chhotelal be presented in the court by 4 pm.
As soon as he received the order, Chhotelal reached Gwalior and appeared in the court, but during this time an unexpected incident happened. When Chhotelal was sitting in the courtroom, Hardeep Randhawa’s associate Gaurav Sharma and his father Dharampal Sharma tried to forcibly take him out. Justice Anand Pathak saw this scene and immediately intervened. Expressing displeasure, he ordered Gaurav Sharma and his father to be taken out of the court. During this, he commented that when such an act can happen in front of the court itself, then one can imagine what would happen to the victim’s family outside.
In view of this entire incident, the division bench of the High Court, which included Justice Anand Pathak and Justice Hirdesh, issued strict instructions to the Ashoknagar Collector and SP. The court ordered that until this matter is completely resolved, there will be a ban on the purchase and sale of Munnibai’s land. Apart from this, the court directed the collector to investigate all the land deals that took place in Ashoknagar district in the last ten years, in which a tribal has sold his land to a non-tribal. The collector was ordered to submit a detailed report of this investigation within two weeks.
Apart from this, SP Ashoknagar was directed to provide full security to Chhotelal and Munnibai and personally monitor the case. The court also asked to ensure that Chhotelal and Munnibai are allowed to stay in their village and police is deployed for their security. The court also clarified that if any other person in the district has been kept in bonded labour for the purpose of grabbing land, then the collector will have to investigate those cases too and take action against the culprits.
The court also questioned the role of the police in this case. When Chhotelal’s lawyer told the court that they had reached Gwalior from Ashoknagar within four hours, the court expressed doubt over it. Justice Anand Pathak said that a luxury car would be required to reach Gwalior from Ashoknagar so quickly, and looking at the condition of the victim’s family, it does not seem that they would have such a facility. He also expressed the apprehension that the person presented may not actually be Chhotelal and this entire case may be being fought at the behest of someone else.
This case has raised the question whether an organized gang in Ashoknagar district is forcing the poor into bonded labour to grab their land. The administration’s inaction has also been exposed in this entire episode. This conspiracy to grab land by taking advantage of the political influence of influential persons like former Sarpanch Hardeep Randhawa has now reached the court, and after the court’s strict stand, it remains to be seen what concrete action the administration takes on this.
