As many as 91 people, including 26 women, from Jhabua, Dhar and Badwani districts were arrested by the administration on July 25 and lodged in Indore and Badwani jails. They had been protesting under the banner of the NBA since July 13 demanding land in lieu of that acquired under the Sardar Sarovar Project as also fishing rights and alternative employment for the landless.

On July 25, the police arrested 150 protesters and, barring 91, released the rest on personal bonds. NBA leaders Medha Patkar and Ashish Mandloi were kept in Indore Jail till August 5.

Patkar wrote a letter from jail to Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court A K Patnaik, accusing the administration of using force to remove activists from the dharna site though their protest was peaceful.

The High Court treated the letter as a petition and asked the Government to file its response. At the NBA’s request, the court also saw a CD submitted by the Andolan and five government cassettes that contained visuals at the time of arrests.

In its affidavit the Government had justified the arrest saying the activists had assaulted a government official. The police had also accused the activists of working against the Government and misleading tribals.

Advocate General R N Singh told The Indian Express that the Government would file an appeal against the order in the Supreme Court.

In its affidavit, the Government said that they had resorted to arrests only after making repeated requests to activists to call off the agitation, and that they did not use any force even though the activists had uprooted trees.

A division bench comprising the Chief Justice and Justice Ajit Singh, however, did not agree with the Government and said its action violated the fundamental rights enjoyed by protesters under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution.

The bench not only ordered the Government to pay Rs 10,000 each to all the 91 activists but also additional damages of Rs 10,000 to Patkar as the cost of the petition.

According to NBA advocate N S Kale, the Government had also been asked to probe the matter and, if it finds suitable, to recover the costs from the officials responsible.