Professor C Kasim detention: Telangana HC asks if state is silencing voices of dissent.

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HYDERABAD: Expressing concern that voices of dissent are possibly being silenced by the State government, a division bench of Telangana High Court on Sunday directed the Telangana government to file a counter affidavit informing the status of the cases registered against detenu Prof Chinthakinda Kaseem between 2006 and 2019. 

The bench also directed the State to produce case diaries of the FIRs registered against the detenu as well as the evidence of the allegation made by the police that Prof Chinthakinda Kaseem, associate professor of Telugu Department in Osmania University, was collecting money from business people and contractors forcibly and handing over the same to the Maoist party.  

“It is imperative for the State to produce the evidence sought for, as a large number of cases have been pouring into the Court, where the police is taking the people into their custody, and arresting them on the allegation that they are ‘Maoist sympathisers’. Once, a professor is arrested on similar charges, it is the concern of the Court to see whether the voices of the dissent are being silenced by the State, by using its eminent power or not,” the bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy, observed. 

‘Imperative to produce evidence’

The bench observed: “It is imperative for the State to produce the evidence sought for, as a large number of cases have been pouring into the Court”

Never undermined foundation of elected government: OU professor tells High Court

“For, the question before this Court is not only about the personal liberty of an individual, but protection of the fundamental rights of a citizen, and in protecting the institutions of learning from being interfered by the State. Therefore, this case acquires a unique colour, which is quite different from the hues and shades of other cases”, the bench said. 

Referring to cases of arrest of alleged ‘Maoist sympathisers’ either at the dead of the night or at the early morning hours, the bench said that there exists a possibility that human rights and constitutional mandates are being violated by the State. 

The bench passed the order in a habeas corpus petition filed by Prof Gaddam Laxman, a retired OU professor and president of State Civil Liberties Committee, challenging the alleged illegal detention of Prof Kaseem by the police on Saturday.

Pursuant to earlier direction of the court, the police produced Kaseem before the bench which heard the case at the CJ’s residence in the city on Sunday. Making a statement before the bench, Prof Kaseem said that he belongs to SC community and comes from an extremely poor background, was the president of Telangana Student Front in 1988 which later on spearheaded the separate Telangana State movement. Subsequently, the party-in-power is unhappy with him raising issues concerning the welfare of OU students.

In his statement, he also denied the police allegations that he has links with Maoist party, propagating its philosophy and so on. Neither in his lectures, nor in his books has he supported, or propagated the Maoist philosophy. Furthermore, neither spoken out against the legitimate government elected by the people, nor indulged in any activity which would undermine the foundation and the strength of a duly elected and lawful government, he added.

While stating that he was not subjected to any physical assault or any torture during his police custody, Prof Kaseem said that the police has tried to force him to sign on a confessional statement, which he has refused to do so, that he has been collecting money and paying not only the sympathisers, but also the lawyers who are defending the party members.

In case, he were to be detained in police custody, the chances of losing his job, as an Associate Professor, are extremely high. Therefore, his present concern is that he should be released forthwith so that his academic career is not jeopardized, he noted.

State government seeks time to file counter State Advocate General BS Prasad while placing remand case diary before the court, sought some time for filing counter affidavit in the present case. After perusing the contents of the case diary, the bench found that Kaseem was involved in five different criminal cases between 2006 and 2019 and was acquitted in two cases. Yet, in none of these cases, the detenu was arrested. Surprisingly, the police has not arrested the detenu for the last 14 years, although, the first FIR was registered against him in 2006, the bench pointed out.

When the petitioner’s counsel V Raghunath urged that the detenu should be shifted from Sangareddy district jail to Cherlapalli Central Prison in the city due to poor conditions in the former jail, the bench directed the police authorities concerned to consider the said request sympathetically and to shift the detenu as expeditiously as possible. While adjourning the case hearing for filing counter affidavit, the bench directed the police to restore Prof Kaseem to judicial custody and posted the matter to January 24 forfurther hearing.

Students try to stage protest, detained

The police have taken a few students into preventive custody when they tried to stage protest near the residence of Chief Justice on Road no 7 in Banjara Hills while Osmania University professor Ch Kaseem was being brought by Siddipet Police to the Telangana High Court.

The police then shifted the students who were detained to the police station as a preventive measure. The police have closed the said road by setting up barricades and deployed additional forces to prevent any untoward incident.