Will not interfere in administration's order denying permission to PM rally at Shaheed Smarak: MP HC

The Madhya Pradesh High Court Sunday said it will not interfere in the order passed by the Jabalpur district administration denying permission to a proposed rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 26 at Shaheed Smarak, Gol Bazar, here citing security reasons.

BJP city unit president G S Thakur and vice president Jay Sachdeva had Sunday filed a petition in the court challenging an April 19 order of the district administration rejecting permission to the party to hold a public meeting at Shaheed Smarak, Gol Bazar, citing security reasons, senior advocate RN Singh and advocate Vijay Pandey, counsels for the petitioners, said.

The district administration, in turn, had advised the BJP to hold the public meeting at alternate venues, including the Garrison Ground or the Veterinary College ground, the petitioners' counsels said.

A division bench of Justices R S Jha and Nandita Dubey declined to interfere in the order passed by the district administration as the petitioners' application was rejected on security reasons, Additional Advocate General Shashank Shekhar said.

Shekhar told the court that the district administration had received another application from the petitioners seeking permission to hold the public meeting at Garrison Ground.

The district collector has sought the Army's no objection certificate and the same is expected to be received on April 22, he said.

The court has ordered the district administration to take all necessary formalities to facilitate the meeting, Shekhar said.

Jabalpur Collector Chhavi Bhardwaj and Superintendent of Police Nimesh Agrawal were present in the court during hearing.

The court has fixed the next hearing after a week.