VIJAYAWADA: The High Court of Andhra Pradesh on Friday directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to give permission to Amaravati Parirakshna Samithi (APS) for its proposed Maha Padayatra from Amaravati to Arasavalli in Srikakulam district in support of continuing Amaravati as the sole capital.
After the police department refused to give permission to APS for their walkathon, scheduled to begin on September 12, Samithi Secretary G Tirupati Rao filed a petition, seeking the high court’s intervention in the matter.
Justice C Manavendranath Roy heard the plea on Friday and said that the police department can take action as per law if any of the court’s prescribed conditions for allowing the Maha Padayatra is violated.
In case, the police department wants to revoke the yatra, it can approach the high court and explain its reasons for doing so, Justice Roy said.
The court directed APS to take up the walkathon between 8 am and 6 pm only without holding any public meeting en route to Srikakulam. “The padayatra should be taken out in a peaceful manner without any scope for violence or illegal activities. Further, there should not be any derogatory remarks against government heads and officials,” the court said.
Stating that outsiders should not be allowed to join the yatra, Justice Roy said people can express their solidarity in a peaceful manner. He instructed the Samithi that not more than 600 people should take part in the walkathon and that their names and addresses should be submitted to the DGP. The court declared the DGP’s orders, refusing permission for the yatra, null and void.
It’s police duty to provide security: HC
Justice Roy reminded the police department of the past instances when political parties were given permission for padayatras. He observed that refusing permission now was not acceptable. The court noted that it was the police department’s responsibility to ensure there are no security issues during such programmes.
Earlier, government pleader (home department) V Maheswara Reddy said the DGP had refused permission in view of the incidents that took place during the padayatra taken out previously by the petitioner. Stating that the Samithi’s previous yatra turned into a political programme which led to some untoward incidents, he argued that there might be law and order problems due to the proposed Maha Padayatra.
Petitioner’s counsel U Muralidhar Rao said the DGP’s orders refusing permission for the padayatra were not rational and added that linking incidents that happened in the past to the present yatra was not correct.
He further asserted that the padayatra taken out on the previous occasion was also done in a peaceful manner.