HC notice to Haryana, BJP, over 1 lakh bike rally plan
The Punjab and Haryana high court has put the Haryana government, the state BJP unit and the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) on notice on a plea seeking necessary steps to maintain law and order during BJP chief Amit Shah’s visit to Jind when the state unit plans a bike rally of an estimated 1 lakh workers.
The high court bench of justice AK Mittal and justice AS Grewal acted on the petition of Arrive Safe, a Chandigarh based NGO, seeking the court’s intervention for protection of life, liberty and property of the public at large. The high court has sought a response by Wednesday.
Shah is to address a ‘Yuva Hunkar’ rally in Jind that is suppose to kick-off the party’s Lok Sabha election campaign for 2019. The petitioner had also made All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) as party in the matter.
However, in view of Samiti’s announcement of withdrawal of agitation, it was deleted as party at the time of hearing on Monday afternoon. The AIJASS had agreed to withdraw the agitation after a meeting between chief minister ML Khattar and other leaders with Jat leaders including Yashpal Malik in New Delhi, on Sunday. It was alleged in the petition that supporters/ workers may indulge in lawlessness and also result in traffic chaos, resulting in road accidents and would violate the right to free movement of the general public.
“It is pertinent to mention, that the BJP chief is supposed to kick off the party’s 2019 Lok Sabha campaign through this rally. This is in violation of guidelines issued by Election Commission of India, …It is a trite fact that the supporters of political parties violate traffic rules, block traffic and indulge in hooliganism. This sets a bad example for youngsters, encouraging them to violate the rules of the road. The chaos and traffic jam adversely affects the travel time of ambulances and other emergency vehicles,” the petition reads.
Arrive Safe had demanded that necessary directions be issued to authorities to take preventive measures for the maintenance of public law and order.
The petitioner had stated that in two recent events — lawlessness reported during Panchkula violence of August 2017 after conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda head and the February 2016 violence by pro Jat quota supporters, the state machinery had failed badly.
ARRIVE SAFE, A CHANDIGARH BASED NGO, HAD SOUGHT THE COURT’S INTERVENTION FOR PROTECTION OF LIFE AND LIBERTY