Date:24/02/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/02/24/stories/2007022403881500.htm

National

Release Beniwal immediately: court

Special Correspondent

CPI(M) state secretary terms court order as "victory of justice"

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan High Court on Friday directed the State Government to immediately release Hetram Beniwal, former CPI (M) MLA and leader of the ongoing farmers' agitation in Sriganganagar. He was arrested in October last year.

The court termed his four-month and a half long incarceration "illegal." Mr. Beniwal is presently lodged in the Suratgarh Jail.

Responding to a habeas corpus writ from advocate Vikarm Singh Nain, filed under the provisions of Article 21 and 22 of the Constitution, the Division Bench comprising Justices Shiv Kumar Sharma and R.S. Chouhan said: "In a democratic country no citizen can be detained without adopting the procedure of law. The detention of Hetram Beniwal is illegal."

Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary Vasudev hailed the court order terming it as the "victory of justice."

"The court order has upheld the democratic rights of citizens and exposed the fascist nature of the BJP Government in Rajasthan," he said.

Mr. Beniwal was spearheading an agitation for irrigation water in the Indira Gandhi Canal Project Phase I area, when he was arrested.