Kashipur Police Station Cleaning Bail Condition (2025–2026)

On May 28, 2025, the Orissa High Court granted bail to Kumeswar Naik, a 26-year-old Dalit anti-mining protester from Kantamal village in Rayagada District, under a condition that became emblematic of judicial overreach: he was ordered to clean the premises of Kashipur Police Station every morning between 6:00 and 9:00 AM. Naik had spent five months imprisoned at the same station for protesting against Vedanta Limited's proposed bauxite mining project in the Tijimali hills. The cleaning condition lasted approximately two months, from June through August 2025, requiring Naik to make a daily 20-kilometer commute to the station where he had been detained. He described the requirement as "insulting," though his commitment to the anti-mining cause remained stronger than the degrading obligation.

Naik's case was not isolated. Between May 2025 and January 2026, at least eight bail orders imposed similar cleaning conditions on anti-mining protesters in Rayagada District. Of these eight individuals, six were Dalits and two were Adivasis. The orders originated from one judge of the Orissa High Court and two judges of the Rayagada District Court. Civil society organizations and legal professionals characterized these conditions as casteist—effectively compelling members of oppressed caste communities to perform labor historically assigned to them by caste hierarchy, leveraging the criminal justice system to enforce caste-based subjugation.

Naik's detention and subsequent bail condition occurred within a broader pattern of state repression against the anti-mining movement. Since 2023, when Vedanta Limited was declared the preferred bidder for a bauxite mining lease covering approximately 1,548 hectares (including 700 hectares of forest land), Dalit and Adivasi communities in more than 40 villages have organized consistent opposition to the project. Over 40 individuals have been arrested; many report ongoing harassment, intimidation, and re-arrests. The project is designed to extract 9 million tonnes of bauxite per year for 31 years.

In May 2026, the Supreme Court of India registered a suo motu case to examine these bail conditions, with a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant undertaking review. On December 15, 2025, more than 125 legal professionals across India issued a joint statement condemning the arrests and procedural violations, citing breaches of the Forest Rights Act, the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, and the Forest Conservation Act.