KOCHI: Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala on Friday submitted before the Kerala High Court isolated incidents of violence reported during the recent hartal called by the UDF might have been due to the lack of vigilance on the part of the police.
He said in an affidavit the people had voluntarily abstained from work to express their indignation against the anti-people policies of the Central and the state governments.
The affidavit was filed in response to a petition filed against the hartal called by the UDF. Chennithala submitted the averment of the petitioner that the financial loss incurred during the hartal should be assessed and recovered from him was not legally sustainable.
As there was no call for violence or forceful obstruction of people from the work or destruction of public property from UDF functionaries, the question of imposing civil or criminal liability on him or any other UDF leader did not arise. Besides, the UDF had given a clear message through various press statements that there was no compulsion on anybody to participate in the hartal.
He also stated no political party had ever issued such a statement.