The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notices to the SP of Seoni district and the Station House Officer (SHO) of Dhuma police station, seeking replies on affidavits explaining why no action was taken for over two months in connection with the vandalisation of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’s statue in the district on 10 February.
A division bench of the MP High Court comprising Chief Justice S K Kait and Justice Vivek Jain ordered the Seoni SP and Dhuma police station SHO to submit signed affidavits explaining in detail why no action was taken in the matter.
The court passed the order while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the matter on Wednesday. The bench also issued one-week returnable notices to the Seoni Collector and the MP government seeking their reply on the incident.
Seoni resident Jitendra Ahirwar, who filed the PIL, contended that the police registered an FIR against unidentified accused in the matter, but instead of apprehending the accused, the police allegedly moved the damaged statue to an unknown location and installed a new one in its place.
He further stated that over two months have passed since the incident, but the police have not arrested a single accused person.
The court has listed the case for the next hearing on 7 May.
Similar cases were also reported from other districts in the past few months.
On Wednesday too, the bust of Dr Ambedkar in the Ambedkar Park in Ashok Nagar city was smeared with black colour. Police have registered an FIR against unidentified miscreants in the matter.
The incidents have prompted strong criticism from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The BSP has declared to hold a protest against such incidents on 2 May.
The main opposition Congress has also alleged that insults to Dr Ambedkar and the Dalit community are occurring at regular intervals in Madhya Pradesh.