North India Statesman
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The Bombay High Court had stopped any political party or individual from announcing a bandh. The High Court said that according to a decision of the High Court itself in 2004, the announcement of such a bandh has already been declared unconstitutional.
A division bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyay and Justice Amit Borkar said that if political parties or individuals do not withdraw the shutdown announcement, then there will be huge losses to business and essential services will also be disrupted. Apart from this, basic and essential services like health will also be affected. It is important to prevent this from happening.
The bandh announcement was challenged by two advocates Subhash Jha and Gunvant Sadavarte and demanded from the High Court that the state government should take all preventive measures to prevent the bandh. While giving its verdict on these petitions, the High Court said that it is stopping any political party or person from announcing a bandh. The Maharashtra government should take all necessary preventive measures.
The High Court said that until any further order is given, all concerned parties are prohibited from announcing a shutdown on August 24 or any day thereafter.
The High Court said that we mainly feel that a bandh has been declared by political parties in the entire state tomorrow. Due to this all kinds of activities come to a halt. As a result, the entire public life is bound to be disrupted and due to this there will be huge losses to business as well. All types of industrial and economic activities will also be disrupted.
The announcement of this shutdown will disrupt the education of children. Apart from this, all essential services including health and electricity supply, water supply, operation of Mumbai's local trains are also likely to be disrupted.
The court said that local train services are the lifeline of Mumbai and if the announcement of a shutdown is allowed at this stage, the public life of the entire Mumbai city will come to a standstill. The announcement of the shutdown will have a negative impact on the citizens. School going children, daily wage earners, office goers, businessmen, factory workers, shopkeepers, service sector and government service employees will all be affected. Due to the shutdown, life in the entire Maharashtra will be disrupted. Earlier also, citizens have suffered a lot due to the announcement of such statewide bonds.
The judges cited a 2004 judgment in which any kind of bandh or strike was declared an unconstitutional measure. According to the 2004 judgment, if such a ban is followed, the concerned political party may face legal action and may have to pay compensation for any loss of life or property caused by it. The High Court said that the police should take strict action against those who are active in breaking the bandh. Chief Justice Upadhyay said that the state government should strictly implement this 2004 decision. The High Court said, we order the state government and all its officials Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), DGP and all District Collectors to strictly implement the guidelines given in the 2004 decision. During the hearing, State Advocate General Birendra Saraf said that the announcement of such a bandh is illegal. Announcing the bandh, he said that the state government will take every possible step to avoid any loss of life and property.
The High Court wanted to know whether the state government has taken preventive measures and whether any preventive detention has been done. In response, the Advocate General said that notices have been issued to some people by the police but no arrests have been made.
Advocate Subhash Jha and Advocate Sadavart drew the attention of the High Court to a judgment of the Kerala High Court which stated that no political party can declare a statewide bandh and the High Court has full power and authority to intervene in such a case. Citing the example of the Maratha agitation, they said that at that time the entire machinery of the state government could not control the situation and public property was damaged at many places.
