The Allahabad High Court on 7 January has dismissed a petition seeking its directions for carrying out protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 from the Firozabad district authorities.
The two-judge bench comprising of Justices Bharti Sapru and Piyush Agarwal while dismissing the writ petition stating that the plea had no merit and held that “It is not in the national interest to give any relief to the petitioner at all. If the petitioner is a citizen of India, he must maintain peace at any cost. We are not inclined to interfere in the matter.”
Mohammad Furqan, a resident of Firozabad who claimed to be a district president of a national political party has applied to the UP government seeking permission to hold a protest against CAA near Hussaini Mohalla ground in Firozabad. However, his application was denied by the district authorities which were uploaded in the UP government portal dated 22 January 2020.
Furquan’s request for the protests was also denied by the Station House Officer of the Rasulpur police station in Firozabad stating that it was not allowed as prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code were in force in the district. The authorities went on to warn the petitioner of legal action shall be initiated against him if he would go ahead with his protest plan despite the denial of permission.
Subsequently, Furquan moved Allahabad High Court challenging the SHO’s order dated 22 January 2020. He argued that such a ban on all the activities of the common public was a violation of Article 19 of the Constitution, which provided the right of freedom of speech and expression to the citizen.
On the other hand, counsel appearing for the state submitted that various public properties were damaged by the anti-CAA protesters on 20 December at many places in the district, thus the permission cannot be granted for such protests.
