The provisions of the TADA Act cannot be invoked in factional fights.

( 1 ) THE petitioner is the son of Devi Reddy Venkata Rami Reddy, Accused No. 1 in Crime No. 15/94 registered under Sections 147, 148, 448, 302, 307 of the Indian penal Code read with Sections 3 and 5 of Explosive substances act, 1908 and sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 3 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987, for short tada Act of the Kadiri Rural Police Station. In this writ petition for habeas Corpus, he is challenging the accusation against the persons mentioned in Annexure-A to the writ petition who have figured in the First Information Report, under the provisions of the TADA Act.

( 2 ) ON the intervening night of 9/10-3-1994 in Kumaravandlapalle, a factious village of Anantapur district in the Rayalaseema region about 2l/2 kilometres from the Kadiri Rural Police Station (the distance mentioned in the remand report is 1l/2 K. Ms, but in the F. I. R. 2l/2 K. Ms.) a ghastly incident occurred resulting in seven deaths and injuries to one person. There were two factions - one headed by Meda Venkataramana Setty and the other by Devireddi venkatarami Reddy (A-1) for the last fourteen years. In the remand report submitted by the Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Kadiri to the Designated Court under the TADA Act, the details of the earlier crimes committed by the two factions have been set out. We may refer to them briefly:

( 3 ) A-1 was heading the faction comprising Vadderas and Kapus, and Meda venkataramana Setty was heading the faction comprising Patras and others. It all began with Panchayat elections. In the year 1981, there were criminal cases involving the two factions; a Patra community man was murdered and one of the accused indicated in that case was Meda Lakshmaiah Setty, father of Meda venkataramana Setty. That case - S. C. 65/82 ended in acquittal, in the year 1982 a-l was elected as Sarpanch of the village. In April, 1983 three persons belonging to the faction of A-l were murdered and in that connection one ankanna, leader of the Patra caste and nine others were tried and convicted in s. C. No. 5/84 by the Additional Sessions Judge, Anantapur. Meda venkataramana Setty also was one of the accused convicted in the case, but he and three others subsequently were acquitted by the High Court. A-l, devireddi Venkatarami Reddy and his followers, were figured as accused in s. C. No. 19/87 on the file of the Sessions Court, Anantapur in connection with the murder of one Potineni Venkatesu belonging to the opposite faction. When ankanna the leader of the Patras was in jail, Meda Venkataramana Setty became the leader of that group. He engaged hired assasins to liquidate devireddi Venkatarami Reddy, A-1, but the police, on coming to know of that, arrested the hired assasins and recovered bombs and daggers from them and launched prosecution in Crime No. 37/85. As a retaliatory measure, A-l and his followers damaged 22 houses of Patras and set fire to one house on 26-9-1985. In respect of this incident, they were tried in S. C. No. 68/86 which ended in acquittal on 30-9-1986. Security cases were also pending on the file of the Sub- divisional Magistrate, against both the groups. When Meda Venkataramana setty engaged a hired assasin to liquidate Devireddi Venkatarami Reddy (A-1), it was averted by the intervention of police and in that connection Crime no. 41 /92 was registered by the Police of Mudigubba. One of the supporters of a-1 was murdered by the opposite faction which is subject matter of Crime no. 145/92 and the same is still under investigation. A-l and his supporters, in retaliation, murdered a person belonging to the opposite camp on 24-6-1993 about which Crime No. 15/93 was registered by Patnam police. In February, 1994 persons belonging to Meda Venkataramana Setty s faction set fire to six huts belonging to the opposite faction which had resulted in loss of property worth Rs. 49,000/ -. Crime No. 14/94^was registered in that connection by the patnam police.

( 4 ) THE immediate provocat

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