A 'Million March' scheduled at Hyderabad's Necklace Road on December 28 was postponed as the Telangana High Court adjourned a petition which sought permission to conduct the event. The court said that the case would be heard on Tuesday.
A Joint Action Committee (JAC) against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) had filed multiple pleas with the court, challenging the police's decision to deny them permission for the event.
Justice T Vinod Kumar of the High Court junked both the pleas. One petitioner, Mohammed Mustaq Malik, had said that police should not interfere in the march. The court noted that a large gathering of people could not take place without police oversight.
The other petitioner Syed Abdul Azeem had challenged the rejection of permission by the police. However, the court pointed out that he had no locus standi, as he had not applied for the permission in the first place.
However, the court observed that the rejection of police permission could be challenged, and consented to hear a writ petition on the issue, on December 31.
Earlier in the week, members of the core committee of the JAC, which consists of several Muslim organisations met with Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar and requested him to reconsider the stand taken by law enforcement authorities.
On Friday, the Commissioner reiterated that no permission had been given. Taking to Twitter, he said, "Hyderabad city police has not given permission for any rally, march or procession for December 28. Please don’t get carried away by any fake news, rumours or propaganda."
Press Release from CP office
— Hyderabad City Police (@hydcitypolice) December 27, 2019
Hyd city police has not given permission for any rally, march or procession for 28 December. Please don’t get carried away by any fake news, rumours or propaganda .
Anjani Kumar IPS
CP Hyderabad.
The ‘million march’ refers to an attempt to recreate a massive gathering at Tank Bund that had taken place during the Telangana movement for separate statehood.
Meanwhile, mild tension prevailed around Charminar in Hyderabad, after several people staged a protest against NRC and CAA after their Friday prayers at Mecca masjid. However, the police managed to disperse the crowd and avoid any untoward incident.