Plea in SC challenges detention of Manipur's pol activist under NSA

New Delhi: A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the preventive detention of a Manipur-based political activist under the National Security Act (NSA), alleging that it has been done solely to punish him for his criticism of BJP leaders purportedly advocating cow dung and cow urine as cures for COVID-19.

The plea, filed by father of political activist Leichombam Erendro, claimed that his son had on May 13 posted on Facebook that cure for coronavirus is not cow's dung and urine.

The statement was made in the context of the death of the President of the Manipur BJP due to COVID-19, as a criticism of the unscientific position taken and misinformation being spread by several BJP politicians regarding cow urine and cow dung being effective in preventing/treating COVID-19, the plea said, adding that the post was deleted soon after being posted on May 13 itself.

The petition, filed through advocate Shadan Farasat, has alleged that for this criticism Erendro has spent some days in custody pursuant to criminal cases initiated against him and thereafter in preventive detention after grant of bail.

The present case is a shocking instance of misuse of preventive detention law to stifle completely innocuous speech that is fully constitutionally protected and was made in public interest - Erendro, a Manipuri political activist, has been preventively detained solely to punish him for his criticism of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders for advocating cow dung and cow urine as cures for COVID-19, the plea has alleged.