Members of Vimukta Communities Ask MP CM to Reconsider Excise Act Amendments

Honourable Chief Minister,

We write to you with this letter/petition in respect of the announcements you have made on 5 October 2021. In the Tribal convention organised in Jhabua on the above date, you had declared that tribal people would be granted permission to make and sell liquor from mahua under the new excise policy. While we welcome this announcement we would like to share our concerns and demands with you.

As you know, there are 51 Vimukta, nomadic and semi-nomadic communities in Madhya Pradesh. The lifestyle and culture of some of these communities is quite similar to that of the tribal communities. In Kanjar and Kuchbandiya communities, liquor made from mahua is traditionally used in all festivals, from birth to death. The people of these communities also make their living by selling small quantities of this liquor for their livelihood. Despite such similarities, the benefit of the August 2021 amendment to the MP Excise Act related to heritage liquor will not be available to our communities as we are not included in the Scheduled Tribes. We ask that in this new excise policy Vimukta communities are also allowed to make and sell Mahua liquor. With this step not only will our livelihood and culture be protected but our community will also be shielded from false cases and police repression.

In the second part of your announcement, you had said that petty criminal cases against tribals would also be withdrawn. We commend this move, however we would like to place some of our concerns before you. It has been observed that our community is targeted by the police through Excise-related and other minor offences. A study shows that that between 2018-2020, 56% of the arrests made under the MP Excise Act were against members of Adivasi, Dalit, Other Backward Classes and Vimukta communities. In particular, it noted that the proportion of Vimukta arrested persons was more than their general population. And that in most cases, they were arrested for possessing very small quantities of liquor, that too from their homes and private places.

Through this research it has come to light that the guidelines of the Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar (2014) are not being complied with. In this case, the Hon’ble Court had said that arrests are not mandatory for offences punishable with imprisonment upto 7 years. The above research found that most cases were actually registered under section 34(1) of the Act under which the term of imprisonment is less than 7 years, and therefore those arrests were unnecessary. Hence, we demand that you withdraw such minor cases against the Vimukta communities as well.

Finally, the provision of capital punishment introduced through the amendment this year under Section 49A is also worrisome for our community. On the basis of the concerns of disproportionate criminalisation as outlined above, it is not an exaggeration to expect that this provision would be misused against our community. Hence, we demand that the death penalty amendment be removed in connection to excise offences.

In conclusion, we hope that the government will accept these long-standing legitimate demands of our community by taking concrete steps to ensure that:

1. Vimukta communities are also allowed to make and sell Mahua liquor under this new excise policy.
2. Minor cases against the Vimukta communities are withdrawn as well.
3. The death penalty amendment in connection to excise offences is removed.

Yours faithfully,

Members of Vimukta communities

and in support of these demands,

1. Gautam Bhatia, Lawyer
2. Dr. Anup Surendranath, Assistant Professor of Law, National Law University Delhi
3. Shweta Goswami, Nirmal Initiative
4. Shailza Sharma, Lawyer
5. Detention Solidarity Network (DetSol)
6. Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project (CPA Project)
7. Jessica Hinchy, Associate Professor, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
8. All India Lawyers Association for Justice
9. Dr. Madan Meena, Hon. Director, Adivasi Academy, Gujarat
10. Professor Ganesh N. Devy, Bhaashaa Research Centre
11. Prisons Forum Karnataka
12. Swati Kamble, Dalit Bahujan Adiwasi Vimukt Womxn collective
13. Pratiksha Baxi, SLCG, JNU
14. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)
15. Common Cause
16. Dr. Vijay Raghavan, Professor of Criminology, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
17. Alternative Law Forum
18. Chander Uday Singh, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India
19. Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network (DHRDNet)
20. National Council of Women Leaders (NCWL)
21. Dakxin Chhara, Budhan Theatre
22. Darshana Mitra, Advocate and Researcher
23. People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
24. Kavita Srivastava, PUCL
25. Ratna Appnender, Lawyer, Delhi
26. Vrinda Grover, Advocate, Supreme Court of India.
27. Arjun Sheoran, Lawyer, Vaakya Legal
28. William Gould, Professor of History, University of Leeds
29. Deepa Pawar, NT-DNT Activist
30. Dr. Arushi Garg, Lawyer
31. Disha Wadekar, Advocate
32. Meera Sanghamitra, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
33. Keerthana Medarametla, Lawyer
34. Poornima Rajeshwar

35. Sujatha Surepally, Dalit Womens Collective.
36. Jean Dreze, Economist
37. Article 21 Trust
38. Apoorv Anand, Jabalpur (M.P.)
39. Gaurav Godhwani, Indore (M.P.)
40. Meghna Yadav, MA Economics (Delhi School of Economics)
41. Mahila Mukti Morcha, Chhattisgarh
42. Shreya, Shaheed School and Mahila Mukti Morcha, Raipur, Chhattisgarh
43. Virendra Bharadwaj, Gurughasidas Sewadar Sangh/ Lok Sirjanhar Union (GSS/LSU), Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh
44. Ramji Khilwo, Chhattisgarh
45. Pavitri Manjhi, Adivasi Dalit Mazdoor Kisan Manavadhikar Sanghathan, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh
46. Sukwaro Bai, Adivasi Dalit Mazdoor Kisan Manavadhikar Sanghathan, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh
47. Jacob Kujur, Jashpur Vikas Samiti, Jashpur, Chhattisgarh
48. Roopdas, Gurughasidas Sewadar Sangh/ Lok Sirjanhar Union (GSS/LSU), Mungeli, Chhattisgarh
49. Vivek Kumar Patre, Bhim Army, Vice-President – Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh
50. Narendra Kure, Bilaigarh, Chhattisgarh
51. Kanchan Sendre, Sangharsh Ek Jeevan Samiti, Durg, Chhattisgarh
52. Sanjeet Barman, Dalit Activist, Chhattisgarh
53. Mahender Singh Khande, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, Bhim Army, President
54. Parmanand Banjare, Chhattisgarh
55. Degree Prasad Chouhan, PUCL, Chhattisgarh
56. Rinchin, PUCL, Chhattisgarh
57. Dinesh Satnam, LSU, Chhattisgarh
58. Tameshwar Anant, LSU, Bemetora, Chhattisgarh
59. Ajay Kumar Anant, LSU, Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh
60. Daulat Ram Dahariya, LSU, Raipur
61. Bajar Singh Kashyap, Kondagaon, Chhattisgarh
62. Milap Das Banjare Panthi Sanchalak, Chhattisgarh
63. Varnita Sinduriya, Social Worker, Saathiya Foundation, Raipur
64. Chanchal Kumar, Bandhua Mazdoor Sangh, Pipra, Chhattisgarh
65. Archana Gupta, Chhattisgarh Mahila Adhikar Manch, Rajim, Chhattisgarh
66. Roshni Goswami, Chhattisgarh Mahila Adhikar Manch, Rajim, Chhattisgarh
67. Avishek Bharti, Chhattisgarh
68. Ahibaram Bancha, Chhattisgarh
69. Manjulata Miri-Pilwapali, Chhattisgarh
70. Savita Kandoi Pilwapali, Chhattisgarh
71. Puniram Yadav, Dalit Adivasi Manch, Kasdol, Chhattisgarh
72. Shimla Bai, Chhattisgarh
73. Ambi Kapur, Surguja, Chhattisgarh
74. Sujeet Karma, President, Jail Bandi Rihai Samiti, Dantewada, Chhattisgarh 75. Tej Kumar Minj, Chhattisgarh
75. Shravan Kumar, Chhattisgarh
76. Ram Kumar, Chhattisgarh
77. Vijay Singh Thakur, Baikunthpur (Koriya), Chhattisgarh 79. Tukeshwar Vanjare, Domuhani, Bilaigarh, Chhattisgarh 80. Alexander Popo Korka, Chhattisgarh
78. Jerome Lakra, Pathalgaon
79. Hemant Lakra, JVM, Pathalgaon, Chhattisgarh
80. Deepak Kumar Yadav, Chhattisgarh