New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Friday slammed Andhra Pradesh government for deploying elite anti-Naxalite police force in Osmania University campus to cope with students' unrest over Telangana statehood row and wanted to know under whose authority the decision was taken.
The apex court directed the State Home Secretary to explain in an affidavit the reasons for deploying the 'Greyhounds' and a status report on the prevailing atmosphere in the Osmania University campus, the hotbed of the separate Statehood agitation.
"Tell us why the Greyhounds have been deployed. What is the reason we want to know," the bench said and asked senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi the very purpose for which the Greyhounds was constituted.
Rohtagi said Greyhounds had been constituted as a specialised force equipped with ultramodern weapons to solely tackle the Naxalite menace and said it was deployed in university campus as hundreds of buses were being burnt and mass suicides being committed.
The submission angered the bench which remarked "if you think Greyhounds should be deployed in such a situation, do you deploy Greyhounds when political parties organise mass rallies and meetings? It is a very serious matter".
Referring to the state's claim that intelligence inputs had revealed that some of the students were sympathisers of Naxalites, the apex court said merely being a sympathiser does not make one a criminal.
"Students are free to express their views and participate in a movement. You can prevent entry of outsiders as a precaution. Mere sympathy of X,Y,Z with a political outfit will not make him a criminal," the bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and Asok Kumar Ganguly remarked when the state claimed some of the students were sympathising with Naxalites.
The apex court also constituted a three-member committee comprising the state home secretary, Hyderabad Police Commissioner and the Vice Chancellor of the University to review on a day-to-day basis the atmosphere in and around the campus.
The bench while permitting the state to deploy the police in the campus said the committee would decide if and when there is a need for deploying central paramilitary forces.
However, it rejected the plea of the state that the high court, which had earlier directed withdrawal of paramilitary forces, should not be allowed to pass orders on day-to-day basis as law and order was essentially a state subject.
"We do not want to have a situation where the people will not be able to approach courts. Mr Rohtagi, on some day you may be appearing for the other side also," the apex court snapped at the counsel.
The apex court said that besides explaining the reason for deployment of Greyhounds and the prevailing atmosphere in the campus, said the state must ensure that the examinations scheduled from March 3-18 are conducted in a peaceful unhindered manner at the university.