Supreme Court Notice To Madhya Pradesh Government On Mandsaur Firing, Court Seeks Response In 4 Weeks

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): In a major development, the Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh government regarding the Mandsaur firing incident in June 2017, in which five farmers lost their lives. The court has sought a response from the state within four weeks.

The notice was issued following a petition by former MLA Paras Saklecha, who has been demanding that the government should table the Jain Commission report in the Legislative Assembly.

The Jain Commission was constituted on June 12, 2017, to investigate the firing incident at Parshvanath Chowpatty in Pipaliya Mandi, Mandsaur, where police opened fire on protesting farmers. The commission submitted its findings on June 13, 2018, but the report has not been made public or discussed in the assembly even after nearly seven years.

Saklecha had initially moved theHigh Court on May 3, 2022, urging the government to act on the commission’s findings and table the report within six months of its submission. However, on October 14, 2024, a division bench of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Binod Kumar Dwivedi rejected the plea, stating that there was no basis for tabling the report after such a long gap.

Challenging the High Court's decision, Saklecha filed a petition in the Supreme Court on January 8, 2025. On Monday, a bench comprising Justice Sandeep Das and Justice Vikram Mehta issued the notice to the state government, asking for a response within four weeks.

Speaking to Free Press, Saklecha said, "The Supreme Court has taken note of our plea and has sought a response from the state government. Senior advocate Vivek Tankha argued on my behalf in the court."