MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to eight BJP functionaries who were booked by Alwarkurichi police for allegedly conducting a yatra, in which state BJP president K Annamalai participated, without obtaining police permission.
According to the prosecution, one of the functionaries, P Rathnakumar, approached the police on August 26, seeking permission to conduct the yatra, which was part of the 'En Mann En Makkal' campaign, on September 3 at Alwarkurichi. Since some of the areas proposed to be covered during the yatra, included areas densely populated by Muslims, the police apprehended that law and order problems may arise and rejected the application on September 2. Despite this, the accused proceeded with the yatra, the prosecution alleged.
However, the eight functionaries, in a joint petition filed by them seeking anticipatory bail, stated that the rejection order was served on them only on September 4. Since there was no response to their application till the date of the yatra, they had proceeded with the rally and it was completed in a peaceful manner, the petitioners added. Justice V Sivagnanam, who heard the plea on Tuesday, granted anticipatory bail to them.