The CPI(M) on Wednesday hailed two recent high court judgments which upheld the fundamental right of citizens to protest and said that they were a "breath of fresh air" in an atmosphere where the government has induced all institutions to "connive" against the public.
The latest editorial of the party's mouthpiece People's Democracy cited a judgment by the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court which had set aside an order by the additional district magistrate against allowing protests in Beed against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
"The judgment delivered by the division bench of justices Nalawade and Sewlikar of the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court is an object lesson on how the fundamental rights of citizens to protest can be exercised in a peaceful and lawful fashion. First of all, the court held that those protesting against the CAA cannot be called as traitors, anti-nationals only because they want to oppose one law," it added.
Referring to the Karnataka High Court's ruling in which it held that prohibitory orders imposed by the Bengaluru Police to prevent protests against the CAA were illegal, the editorial said the verdict is a blow against the indiscriminate use of Section 144 of the CrPC, which has been used around the country to suppress peaceful protests against the amended citizenship act and the NRC.
"These are two significant judgments at a time when sections of the higher judiciary and even the Supreme Court are seen to be lagging behind and failing to intervene to uphold constitutional rights," the editorial said.
"These two judgments are like a breath of fresh air in an atmosphere where it seems the government has suborned all institutions to connive in the deprivation of the liberty of citizens. Not a day passes without cases being filed against people who are opposing the government, or, expressing dissenting views in the social media," it added.
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