THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The all-party meeting held at Vilappilsala Panchayat on Monday has decided to file an appeal in Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday against the High Court (HC) order to reopen the Vilappilsala garbage treatment plant with the protection of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
The appeal will seek a stay on the HC order, along with the proceedings in the contempt of court case against the panchayat.
Leading counsel E M S Anam will appear for the panchayat in SC.
In order to meet the expenses to file an appeal in SC, the meeting presided over by the panchayat president S Sobhana Kumari also decided to collect a day’s revenue from all the earning members in the panchayat. They include government officials, other employees, members of Kudumbashree units and National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) workers in the panchayat, with a population of nearly 50,000.
Sobhana Kumari said that the meeting with all political parties in the panchayat, including the CPM, had arrived at a unanimous decision. “Earlier, the CPM was against our stand. But now, they also have joined our cause. Now we will fight against this injustice as a united front,” she told Express. She added that meetings will be held on Wednesday, at 10 am, in all the 20 wards of the panchayat.
Twenty-five persons, including panchayat members and representatives of political parties having a representation in the panchayat, attended Monday’s meeting. They included members of Congress, CPM, BJP and CPI. The president said that the representatives of the Muslim League and CMP also would be invited from next time onwards.
The High Court, on Friday, coming down heavily on the inaction of the State police in implementing its order to provide security for transporting solid waste to Vilappilsala, observed that the CRPF may be asked to provide security for the same.
The Court observed that the intervention of the police in the issue was not satisfactory and hence the Union Government, along with the CRPF, must be impleaded in the case.