MP HC seeks response from state govt on invoking NSA against Pravesh Shukla

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday issued a notice to the state government seeking its response on invoking the National Security Act (NSA) against Pravesh Shukla, the man who urinated on a tribal labourer.

The bench of Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Vishal Mishra also observed that "misleading" and "unverified" news information were published and asked Sidhi district collector to take action to prevent it further.

The court made this observation while hearing a "habeas corpus" plea filed by accused Pravesh Shukla's wife Kanchan Shukla to challenge invoking of NSA. The petitioner claimed her husband was arrested and NSA was invoked due to political influence.

Senior advocate Aniruddh Mishra, who represented the petitioner, told IANS that the court has sought the state government's reply within the next two weeks. Mishra claimed the court has also advised the media organisations to refrain from publishing unverified facts related to the matter.

During the hearing, Mishra argued that the NSA was invoked against Pravesh Shukla without giving him an opportunity to make a representation to the detaining authority.

In her plea, Kanchan Shukla has alleged that her husband was arrested due political influence and the NSA was invoked following the direction of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Notably, a video showing Pravesh Shukla urinating on a tribal man, Dashmat Rawat, went viral on social media. The issue had sparked a huge political controversy in the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.

Subsequently, Shukla was arrested under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and was also slapped with NSA. He is presently lodged in the Rewa central jail.