Nagpur- Imagine someone who has never studied law or stepped inside a courtroom, suddenly becoming a party in a case—representing themselves, arguing not just for personal justice but for a legal precedent. The battle becomes even more daunting when the opponent is not an individual but the entire machinery of the state, represented by senior legal minds.
“If you are a Dalit and education is the only asset you possess, and someone robs you of that possession—destroying your dreams and stripping away your right to equal opportunity—what do you do? You won’t let it go, You fight. And that’s exactly what we did,” say Dr. Kshipra Kamlesh Uke and Dr. Shiv Shankar Das.
The Dalit couple has made history by compelling the judiciary to recognize intellectual property as an asset, as valuable as any movable property, and therefore compensable under the law. They quoted ₹127,55,11,600/- as intrinsic value and Rs. 3,91,85,000/- as extrinsic/instrumental value for quantification of the loss of their intellectual property that not only led them to profound personal and economic hardships as they lost their livelihoods, but critically disrupted their missionary project.
On 10 November 2023, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court ruled in their favor, ordering the Maharashtra government to compensate them for the damages they suffered.
On January 24, 2025, the Supreme Court of India dismissed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Maharashtra government, effectively upholding the Bombay High Court’s landmark judgment.
This ruling establishes a significant precedent by recognizing intellectual property damage as compensable under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The case was heard by a bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma.
The researchers ordeal began when, in collusion with corrupt police officials, their landlord orchestrated a raid on their home in Laxmi Nagar of Nagpur city, hardly half a kilometer away from Deekshabhoomi, on 8 September 2018, in their absence, leading to the theft of their most priceless possessions—huge research data stored in laptop and pendrives, 5000 survey samples, academic publications, and certificates—work that represented years of dedication and effort.
This incident took place in the constituency of CM Devendra Fadnavis, who was also serving as the Chief Minister at the time of the incident.
In a detailed conversation with The Mooknayak, Kshipra and Shiv Shankar opened up about their six-year-long ordeal, the societal pressure, systemic oppression, and the legal journey they undertook. They spoke about the immense cost they had to bear—primarily due to their caste identities—and how renting a house in a Brahmin-dominated locality led to hostility once their caste was revealed.
The researchers conducting data collection in 2014.
“In 2015, we rented a house near Deekshabhoomi. The building and neighborhood were dominated by Brahmins. We had nothing particular on our minds, and even the house owner, a 70-year-old gentleman, did not ask about our caste. What he looked for in a good tenant was education, a stable job, and food preferences. Shiv Shankar, who carries the surname ‘Das,’ was perhaps assumed to be a Brahmin when he mentioned that he was a pure vegetarian,” Kshipra recalled.
She further shared, “The house owner was friendly—he frequently visited us, accepted our snacks and green tea, and even invited us to his granddaughter’s naamkaran ceremony. This indicated a cordial relationship between our families. However, things changed when we started our sample collection work and became actively involved in political activism following Rohith Vemula’s institutional murder. Our presence became an eyesore to many.” Notably, Kshipra had also contested election in JNU students’ Union.
“Under the banner of Rohith Vemula Fights Back, we mobilized and led a powerful protest rally with 10,000 participants. On January 30, 2016, we marched to the RSS headquarters in Nagpur, demanding justice with our main slogan—‘Ban RSS.’ This was the first time in history that such a march had taken place. Following the rally, some of our acquaintances warned us that we had caught their attention and were now on their radar,” Kshipra said.
After seven to eight months of our stay, our house owner came to meet us and expressed his concerns, claiming that the Brahmin neighbors were uncomfortable with non-Brahmins living in the locality. Kshipra recalled, “The old man told us that he personally had no problem with us, but since the Brahmin neighbors were not comfortable, he was finding it difficult to handle them.”
However, he did not directly ask us to vacate. But in January 2016, when it was time to renew the annual tenancy agreement and we requested him to do so, he told us that he was not in the mood to renew it. However, he allowed us to continue staying on the condition of a 10% rent hike, which we agreed to.
This arrangement continued until July 2016, when, unfortunately, he passed away. The ownership of the house was then inherited by his son, who lived and worked in Pune.
Das told The Mooknayak that the house owner’s son visited them in October 2016 and suddenly asked them to vacate the house within a day. “We told him that we were not planning to stay indefinitely or take over the house, and we would definitely leave. But vacating within 24 hours was simply not possible,” Kshipra, who was eight months pregnant with their daughter at the time, curtly replied. This led to an unpleasant ending to the conversation.
Following this, the house owner’s son cut off all communication with them, but the couple continued living in the house, paying rent properly, and carrying on with their work.
In 2018, while they were in Delhi for research-related work, the house owner’s son started calling them continuously, pressuring them to meet. “We told him that we would meet him whenever we returned to Nagpur, and we kept our word. Once our tickets were confirmed, we informed him about our arrival in Nagpur on September 9, 2018, and he was well aware of it,” Das said.
“When we returned home from New Delhi, we were shocked to find our locks broken and our belongings damaged and scattered across the building. In distress, we immediately called 100 and rushed to the Bajaj Nagar police station to file an FIR, but no officer was willing to register our complaint”, he said. The police, however, refused to register their complaint, making them wait the entire day with their small child. “The officer on duty told us that since it was a Sunday, our complaint could not be registered,” Kshipra recalled.
With nowhere else to go, the couple approached the Joint Commissioner of Police, who finally instructed the officers to take the case—though only under mild sections. “Meanwhile, we attempted to communicate with our landlord, but his unusual behavior and information from neighbors made it clear that he was involved in the crime. Realizing this, we decided to file an FIR against him.”
State Protection for Guilty Officers: How Police Shielded Their Own in the Caste Atrocity Case
During the investigation, two more individuals who were the house owner’s accomplices, were found to be involved, along with certain police personnel.
A few months later, after the couple provided evidence of caste-based atrocities, the were all booked and charge-sheeted under the stringent Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. However, the state shielded the police officers, and no case was registered against them.
“One of the police officers created a false document, which was a written letter on behalf of the house owner, claiming that his tenants had left the home six months ago and wanted to return the keys to him. However, since the house owner lived in Pune, he could not collect the keys. This letter was drafted by an officer and used as a ground for raiding the house, and a female constable confessed to this in her statement during the inquiry,” Kshipra said.
Further investigations led to a significant discovery in January 2019, when the Crime Branch, Nagpur recovered some of the stolen property from the accused. This included 33 original academic certificates, passports, research survey forms, and other crucial documents, which were deposited at the local police station. Shockingly, some of these items later disappeared from police custody.
Before the charge sheet was filed in court, the police eliminated 11 out of 16 key pieces of evidence related to the crime from their own custody. A departmental inquiry in January 2019 found four policemen guilty of conspiring and illegally ransacking our house, yet they were neither booked nor charge-sheeted. Additionally, two Investigating Officers were found guilty of fabricating false evidence, and another police inspector was held responsible for tampering with and making evidence disappear from police custody.
So far, a total of seven policemen have been found guilty in multiple departmental inquiries. However, instead of facing prosecution, they continue to be protected by the state. ” We have been demanding to take a criminal case against the errant policemen and punish them under the caste atrocity act but the department protected them. Just their increments were withheld after departmental inquiries. The authorities say since the cops have been punished once, we cannot punish them for the same cause twice. However, we are fighting the case and wont step back until they too are jailed”.
Heavy Loss of Data: Hindering Professional and Financial Opportunities
The researchers lost their intellectual properties including research data containing 5000 samples related to their project on political awareness of Nagpur city youths, a laptop in which research data was processed, pen drives, hard disc in which the data was stored, and a research manuscript. The laptop also contained confidential data about prisoners for whose dignity and rights the NGO VARHAD at Amravati works where Kshipra and Shiv Shankar Das were associated as consultants.
The stolen data cost them heavily, rendering them unable to submit a presentation to three Union Ministers, including Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot for an ambitious ONGC CSR project. Simultaneously, VARHAD was unable to raise funds due to the theft of crucial data, crippling their ability to secure financial support for their work. Due to loss of official data they lost their jobs at VARHAD.
” In want of our academic documents, we could not apply for any new job or academic position like post-doctoral fellowship or teaching. The harm didn’t just strip us of our livelihood but also deprived us of our fundamental right of equal opportunity to carry on our occupation of research and training in India, which we were engaged in through our not-for-profit company”, they told The Mooknayak.
“It is not just about losing your degrees and certificates, it’s losing your entire work. I can get duplicate copies of my marksheets and degrees, but what about the international conferences and seminars I attended? What about the original publications? When I apply for a job now, I won’t be allowed to appear before the selection panel because the staff would first verify my testimonials with the originals, and I would be presenting duplicates. The API (Academic Performance Indicator), which gauges the merit of a candidate, would show me as a new applicant, losing all my seniority. The loss is indescribable and unimaginable for anyone,” Kshipra said.
Lack of Precedents and Provisions for Compensating Intellectual Property Loss under SC/ST Atrocities Act
In April 2022, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, a constitutional body specialized in protecting the rights of victims of caste atrocities, recommended that the district authorities inquire into the matter, including the loss of intellectual property, and submit an Action Taken Report (ATR). Further, the Commission issued multiple reminders to the state government, but the authorities never filed the ATR.
Hence, for the implementation of these recommendations, they had to approach the Bombay High Court. When asked why the couple, who belong to the social sciences stream and have no legal background, decided to fight their own case, Kshipra responded spontaneously: “Lack of study and trust in lawyers.” Since the fight was against the state machinery, there were trust issues as lawyers could be compromised.
“It was the first case of its kind, with no precedents or provisions for compensating intellectual property loss under the SC/ST Atrocities Act. We spoke to many counsels, but we found that they lacked even a basic understanding of the Act and were unwilling to study. I was someone whose entire career and ambition were at stake due to the damage to our possessions. So, we took it upon ourselves to study rigorously. It took us years to research provisions, clauses, and case studies—ranging from 200 years ago to recent ones worldwide—related to intellectual property and atrocities. We framed our arguments and presented them ourselves before the judges, who patiently heard our pleadings,” Kshipra said.
The couple shared that the presence of dozens of people from the opposing side, including officials from the social welfare department, collectorate, and police, made them nervous. “At one point, I lost all my confidence and thought, How are we going to win against this large army? But we had faith in our education—our knowledge—which helped us navigate this difficult legal journey. We were armed only with our detailed and thorough study, and we convinced the judges why our claim for compensation was reasonable and just.”
Explaining the Loss and Justifying Compensation: The Legal Battle
Having no legal background or experience with court proceedings, the couple argued their case in person, which itself was a significant challenge. The nature of the crime was clear—since the state police were involved in the crime, the Government of Maharashtra could not escape acknowledging the loss of their intellectual property. However, the main hurdle they faced was the narrow interpretation of the Maharashtra Government, which argued that compensation for intellectual property loss did not qualify under the SC/ST (PoA) Act on two grounds:
- The Act’s Scope: The government claimed that the SC/ST (PoA) Act only protects or compensates physical property (such as houses or movable items) and excludes intangible assets like intellectual property or research data.
- Incapability to Quantify Loss: The government argued that it was incapable of assessing or quantifying the intangible losses, making it difficult to determine the compensation.
To counter these arguments, the couple relied on legal provisions to convince the court. First, they cited Section 2(1)[f] of the SC/ST (PoA) Act, IPC 22 & 24, and Section 3 (26) & 3 (36) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, arguing that intellectual property is indeed a form of movable property under the PoA Act.
Next, the couple presented two methods to quantify the loss of their intellectual property and research data:
- Extrinsic/Instrumental Value: Rs. 3,91,85,000/-
- Intrinsic Value: Rs. 127,55,11,600/-
They successfully demonstrated that the loss of their intellectual property not only caused severe personal and financial hardships, including the loss of their jobs and livelihoods, but also disrupted their missionary project to revive the political school of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. Through these compelling arguments, they justified their claim for compensation.
After all the hearings, the court reserved its judgment on July 5, 2023, and finally pronounced it on November 10, 2023, partially allowing the petition and instructing the state authorities to provide the researchers compensation for the loss of intellectual property under the provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. However, the Government of Maharashtra withheld compliance with the judgment and approached the Apex Court through a Special Leave Petition (SLP) to have the High Court judgment dismissed.
On January 24, 2025, a Supreme Court bench led by Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma heard the arguments of the Government of Maharashtra and passed a judicial order:
“We have heard learned counsel for the petitioner (Government of Maharashtra) at length. We do not find any merit in the Special Leave Petition. Hence, the SLP is dismissed.”
The researchers in a virtual meeting with Nagpur DM.
Nagpur Collector’s Failure to Comply with High Court Order: Contempt Petition on the Horizon
While the Maharashtra government filed the Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court, the District Magistrate of Nagpur asked the researchers to appear for a physical hearing at his office on January 9, expressing a willingness to comply with the High Court order to compensate by January 16.
“However, we expressed our unwillingness to attend a physical hearing and requested a virtual one, which was granted only after we cited the relevant laws and regulations allowing virtual hearings as a substitute for physical presence. We held the online meeting as requested; however, the administration has failed to disburse the compensation and comply with the court’s order. We intend to move a contempt petition against the administration for their failure to comply. Once we receive the compensation, I will be able to start afresh and take concrete steps to realize my mission of reviving Ambedkar’s political school,” Kshipra stated.
“Our legal battle of 6 long years that concluded in the Apex Court was due to our strong sense of dignity, consistency and confidence in the provisions of the constitution and definitely the teachings of our hero–Babasaheb Ambedkar,” the couple concluded.
The Silent Suffering: Metta’s Childhood Amidst Legal Struggles
While the researchers relentlessly pursued justice, one silent sufferer in the family was their 8-year-old daughter, Metta, who did not attend school for seven years. The constant threats to their lives, manipulations, and the overwhelming state machinery working against them took a toll on their entire family. “We realized our lives were no longer easy,” they said. They withdrew from social gatherings, stopped visiting relatives, and only had brief, impersonal phone conversations with friends. There were no birthday parties, weddings, or functions.
This isolation affected Metta profoundly. She became an introvert, with no friends, and her only companions were her parents, who took on the responsibility of teaching her at home. After moving to a undisclosed location last year, Metta was finally able to attend school and, for the first time, began to make friends.
source : themooknayak