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Supreme Court dismisses plea against ban on bandhs

In an order of far-reaching consequence, the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the special leave petition filed by the Communist Party of India-Marxist against a Kerala high court judgment declaring bandhs (general strike whereby all establishments in the area are closed down) as illegal and violative of Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution.

The order upholding the high court verdict dated July 28 this year, was made by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice J S Verma, Justice B N Kirpal and Justice V N Khare.

The judges, however, issued notice on another petition filed by the CPI-M challenging the restrictions imposed by the high court on taking out processions.

The apex court judges made it clear that the notice was confined only to the question of whether a six-day notice, as directed by the Kerala high court, for taking out processions should be substituted by the words "notice of a reasonable period before taking out a procession."

Senior Counsel Soli Sorabji, appearing for the CPI-M in the second special leave petition, submitted that if a long period is prescribed for giving notice for a procession, it would frustrate the very purpose of taking out a procession in favour or against an issue of immediate significance.

Earlier, senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for the CPI-M in the first petition, submitted that the Kerala high court had held as legitimate, voluntary activity as something illegitimate and done with coercion.

He said the high court, in its attempt to declare the very calling of a bandh illegal, appeared unwilling to stop at what was obvious: that bandhs in the present circumstances are enforced often to protest against infringement of the freedoms and rights of citizens.

He argued that the high court should not have come to the conclusion that the calling of a bandh infringed upon the citizen's right to liberty.

Kerala outfits call off bandhs after HC judgment