GUWAHATI, April 2 - Expressing serious concern over the �undemocratic and unjust detention� of KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi, a number of distinguished intellectuals today said by repeatedly rearresting Gogoi, the police had not just violated the personal liberty of the activist but the practice of rearresting the accused in old cases when no chargesheets could not be filed in any major charge was also tantamount to an attempt at circumventing the judicial scrutiny of executive actions.
�It is, of course, a gross violation of the norms of natural justice. The higher judiciary needs to intervene to protect the human rights of activists who try to correct apparently unwise actions of any government,� the statement issued by the signatories said.
Asserting that the arrests were not innocuous, the signatories termed those as instances of blatant abuse of power by the government of the day. �We urge upon the higher judiciary to take suo motu action on this matter. The government must be prevented from using such tactics to fight political opponents. This is a tactic that breaks all norms of democratic governance,� it added.
Stating that they were deeply worried about the consequences for Indian democracy due to the callous attitude of the Assam government in the matter of continuous detention of Gogoi on various cases, they said the activist�s deteriorating health was also a big concern.
The jail authorities had not been giving him proper treatment, they said. �As a result, the NIA Special Court had to order a check-up and also constitute a medical board to monitor his health. Despite illness Gogoi has not been hospitalised and the authorities have been merely making rounds of the medical college, always taking him at a time in the late afternoon when only junior doctors are present. We fear that something serious might happen to him, particularly, when the Supreme Court has asked authorities to release even some convicts because of the spread of coronavirus,� the statement said.
