HC hears plea against rally
Telangana drags its feet over logistics
The Telangana High Court on Thursday sought to know from the police as to whether the United Muslims Action Committee (UMAC) and the AllIndia Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) have been accorded permission to hold a midnight protest rally and meeting against the CAA and NRC on the midnight of January 25.
Justice T. Vinod Kumar directed special counsel for the state, who was representing the police, to inform the court about the permission by Friday morning.
Justice Vinod Kumar was dealing with a writ petition filed by T. Uma Mahendra, a resident of Petla Burj, seeking a direction to principal secretary, home, and Direction-General of Police, to restrain the UMAC and the AIMIM from organising a midnight protest rally. The counsel informed the court that Charminar was a communally sensitive and it would be impossible for police to handle the situation and maintain peace if between one to two lakh people converge at a time in the area.
The three-member commission, appointed by the Supreme Court to probe the encounter of the arrested in the Disha rape case, has put its travel plans to Hyderabad on hold, for the time being. The reason being cited for this is the Telangana state government’s dilly-dallying over providing the logistics to the commission. It is unclear if the move by the TS government is deliberate but has ended up delaying the commencement of proceedings of the commission.
It was on December 12, that the Supreme Court had set up the threemember commission to investigate the killings of the four alleged accused in what the police said was an encounter. The four arrested – Muhammed Arif, J Naveen, J Shiva and Chennakeshavulu – were gunned down in an encounter on the outskirts of city in the wee hours of December 6. Disha was abducted, gang raped and murdered on November 28, last year.
Sources in the know of developments told Deccan Chronicle that so far the members of the commission have not been able to finalise the date of their arrival in Hyderabad, as the state government was said to be taking its own time to finalise the arrangements. The only aspect that has more or less been finalised is that the commission will be given a court hall in the Telangana state High Court from where they will conduct the proceedings. Since the members of the Telangana police itself are under investigation, the security cover for the panel members is being provided by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Besides that, the accommodation for the three members, staff, vehicles and other needs have not yet been finalised which has ended up in the commission putting their travel plans on hold for now. “Unless all arrangements are in place, the commission has no choice but to wait. In the process, more than a month has passed,” they said. As things stand now, it is expected that the commission will arrive in Hyderabad only in the month of February.
The committee held their first meeting in the third week of December.