HC clears BJP maha dharna' set for Saturday

HYDERABAD: The High Court on Friday directed the state police, in particular the central zone DCP to permit the BJP to hold its ‘maha dharna’ from 10 am to 5 pm at Dharna Chowk here on Saturday.  

Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy passed the order on a lunch motion writ petition filed by Gujjala Premender Reddy, general secretary of the BJP’s state unit, seeking a direction to the DCP to accord permission.

The court imposed a condition that the number of participants should be restricted to 500. It urged the petitioner to give a list of national and state leaders who would be participating in the maha dharna to the DCP. The speakers were cautioned against derogatory speeches.

M. Roopender, government counsel for home, furnished the order of the DCP rejecting the permission on the ground that there were many hospitals and residential complexes in the vicinity. This dharna could lead to traffic snarls and throw life out of gear.

He stated that the main agenda of the petitioner would be issues faced by unemployed youth and the recent TSPSC question paper leak, both of which could provoke the gathering and create law and order problems.   

Senior counsel T. Surya Karan Reddy and Chinolla Naresh Reddy appeared for the petitioner and informed the court that the police were taking a decision at the behest of the state government.

The judge termed the DCP’s rejection order as “unreasonable and arbitrary… if permissions are not given for such protests at Dharna Chowk, where will people hold dharnas…. Article 19(1) of the Constitution of India, accords permission to the citizens to express dissent…people have the right to express dissent.”