Telangana HC allows Bandi Sanjay\'s yatra, with riders

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Monday issued conditional permission to the BJP for conducting its Praja Sangrama Yatra and public meeting in Nirmal district.

As per the orders issued by Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy on a petition filed by state BJP general secretary G. Premender Reddy, the BJP was instructed to share its route map with the police, ensure there was no sloganeering hurting religious sentiments and direct participants did not carry sticks.

Justice Vijaysen Reddy said the meeting should commence at 3 pm and end by 5 pm. The court said the police should ensure that no untoward incident takes place during the events and gave them the liberty to take action against violators of court-imposed conditions.

“The petitioners shall indemnify any damage to public property,” the court said.

BJP’s senior counsel N. Ramchander Rao, a former MLC, informed the court that the venue for the meeting, the Bhainsa Y junction, was three kilometres from the town. He said that around 500 persons would take part in a rally and that 3,000-4,000 people would attend the meeting.

He said that the petitioner had informed the Nirmal SP of the same when applying for permission, but that the application was kept in abeyance and rejected on Sunday.

Advocate-General B.S. Prasad, informing the court that prohibitory orders were issued by a magistrate, contended that the meeting venue should be changed to the outskirts of the district as intelligence inputs indicated plans to disrupt communal harmony.

Prasad and additional advocate-general J. Ramachandra Rao told the court that a previous meeting by Sanjay had resulted in communal violence and that permission was sought for Praja Sangrama Yatra, where “sangrama” meant “war”.

“On whom has the BJP declared war?” they asked.

They contended that Bhainsa recently witnessed a “holocaust” and it was not appropriate to permit the yatra in the run-up to the Babri masjid demolition anniversary on December 6.