The Bombay High Court has sought the Maharashtra government’s response to allegations of illegal detentions during protests held in Mumbai against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while stressing that the right to agitate must be exercised peacefully.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait M Sethna was hearing a petition seeking directions against the alleged indiscriminate detention of peaceful protesters, people detained because of previous detention records and ordinary pedestrians caught near protest locations.
The court also sought responses from the state government and the petitioner to intervention applications filed by local residents who alleged inconvenience because of protests in their vicinity. The residents’ lawyers said the demonstrations had been held without permission and that an FIR had been registered.
Senior advocates Gayatri Singh and Mihir Desai, appearing for the petitioner and intervening protesters, placed specific instances of alleged unlawful detention before the bench. They claimed that protesters, young bystanders and people at their homes had been picked up without specific reasons, taken to police stations for the day or detained at home before being released.
The Maharashtra government disputed the allegation in relation to the Gamdevi police station area near August Kranti Maidan. Advocate General Milind Sathe told the court that no person had been detained there. He said police had seen a post on X about a protest march at August Kranti Maidan and found that protesters had blocked the junction near Nana Chowk, an area connecting about 10 or 12 roads.
“ All that the police did was, they removed the protesters, took them to the police station, took their names, and released them,” Sathe argued, according to the proceedings reported by The Indian Express. The state’s account therefore characterised the action as removal, identification and release rather than detention.
The court had previously said on October 13 that it could not issue blanket orders concerning detentions during protests, but would examine each case placed on record. During the latest hearing, the bench indicated that the individuals involved should not have criminal antecedents and that their credentials would need to be examined.
Chief Justice Tripathi said the court’s endeavour would be to examine the facts through affidavits. He added that everyone had a right to agitate, but that demonstrations had to remain peaceful. The bench also said it would examine whether unwanted elements had entered protests conducted under the guise of peaceful demonstrations, while making clear that it would address any instances of unlawful detention.
The case places the management of demonstrations in Mumbai’s dense public spaces alongside questions about police powers and pedestrian and traffic disruption. The competing claims — that protesters were unlawfully detained and that police merely cleared a blocked junction — will now be tested through the material submitted to the court.
The Bombay High Court has directed the parties to file their responses before the next hearing on November 19.
