A day after the Kerala High Court criticised a CPI(M) party meeting near the District Court Complex in Thiruvananthapuram, Vanchiyoor police on Wednesday, December 11 registered a case against 500 workers and recorded the arrest of 35 people. Area secretary P Babu has been identified as the prime accused.
The ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) held a party meeting in the middle of a busy road in Vanchiyoor on December 5. Before the meeting began in the evening, one side of the road was blocked leading to massive traffic snarls as it happened at a time when the schools had wound up for the day and the offices were closing. What irked the court was that the meeting venue was just opposite the Thiruvananthapuram district court and also the Vanchiyoor police station.
This issue surfaced in the High Court when a petition was filed by N Prakash seeking contempt action against CPI(M) state Secretary MV Govindan and the state police chief as the party meeting violated the court’s order that had prohibited the holding of meetings on public roads and roadsides.
Hearing the case, a bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and Justice Muralee Krishna S asked the state government to file an affidavit regarding who gives permission and electricity for such meetings. “No political party or organisation should be allowed to obstruct footpaths or public roadways during protests, demonstrations, or similar events by setting up temporary structures. Such actions force pedestrians, including individuals with disabilities and limited mobility, to navigate unsafe conditions,” the court observed.
It also asked the Circle Inspector of the Vanchiyoor police station to appear before the court on Thursday to explain the issue. It now remains to be seen how the court, which orally said that it would consider whether the issue has to be taken from a larger perspective, will act tough.
The petitioner had pointed out the meeting violated two previous High Court directives. In 2010, the court ordered that meetings could only be held in stadiums, public grounds outside road margins, grounds of educational institutions on holidays, and not on public roads or road margins. In another order in 2021, it said encroachments, in temporary or permanent form, shall be prevented which affects the right of way or pedestrian facilities on public roads.
(With inputs from IANS)