The Madras High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which sought that officials be restrained from giving permission to hold protests on Marina beach, citing an earlier order enforcing the ban.
The PIL was filed by K Harikrishnan, who sought that an order be passed to the concerned authorities directing them to disallow political parties, social organisations and associations from announcing Marina beach as their venue for protests and rallies, mentioning the Court’s earlier order from September 2018.
Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad observed that the petitioner had not submitted any document to the court to show that an application was made seeking permission to conduct a protest on Marina, and said that the plea was not maintainable, dismissing it. The September 2018 order of the High Court had categorically stated that only the Commissioner of Police had the authority to identify certain spots on Marina for the purpose of granting permission to hold processions and public meetings.
According to reports, the petitioner’s counsel submitted that according to inquiries by the petitioner, there were organisations that were issuing pamphlets and notices to the general public, insinuating that the authorities have given permission to conduct a meeting on Marina beach.
Following this, the petitioner made a representation to the respective authorities on June 1, requesting them to not grant permission for any protest on Marina. The counsel also added that since there was no response to his client’s representation to the authorities, he was forced to file this PIL.
The issue of Marina becoming a hotspot for protests and processions grabbed the limelight after the famous Jallikattu protests of January 2017. Thousands of men and women from across Tamil Nadu gathered at Marina, seeking that the government allow Jallikattu to be conducted. The movement gathered momentum solely through social media like Facebook, with scores of internet influencers leading the way to bring in more crowd to show resentment.
Source: The News Minute