The Allahabad High Court has taken strong exception to the alleged assault on a public-spirited petitioner who had approached the court through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) highlighting large-scale encroachments on public utility and gram sabha land in Sant Kabir Nagar district.
Justice J.J. Munir, while hearing the petition filed by Kamal Narayan Pathak, directed senior district officials—including the District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police, Sub-Divisional Officer of Khalilabad, and the local Tehsildar—to file personal affidavits responding to the allegations. Notices were also issued to the private respondents accused of encroaching on community land. The matter has been listed for further hearing on September 15.
The petitioner had alleged rampant trespass on gram sabha land in village Umila Buddha Kalan, tehsil Khalilabad, including encroachment upon ponds, manure pits, khalihan, bheeta and other public utility land. According to the petition, while discharging his civic duty of reporting the illegal occupation, Pathak was allegedly manhandled, threatened, and beaten up by persons seeking to promote the trespass.
Taking serious note of the assault, the court remarked:
“If public spirited persons, who come forward to report issues that affect the community at large, have their voice muffled by goondas, musclemen and anti-social elements, there would be no one to report the mischief afoot in society.”
The bench also came down heavily on government functionaries, stressing that the filing of PILs was a reflection of official inaction:
“So far as the officers of the state are concerned, if they had indeed been doing their duties, there would not be any need for any public spirited person to come forward to the court and institute a public interest litigation.”
The court further observed that PILs, though not part of the conventional judicial framework, had become a “necessary evil” because of administrative failure at the grassroots level.
The court’s August 29 order directs all concerned officials to submit their responses through personal affidavits before the next date of hearing. The matter will be taken up again on September 15, 2025.
