Karnataka HC orders against Labour Day procession in Bengaluru

The Karnataka High Court has denied requests and applications from trade and workers unions to take out a procession of 15,000 workers to observe the International Labour Day on May 1.

The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and other unions' request to take out a procession in the Karnataka capital, Bengaluru, on May 1 for the occasion of the International Labour Day was declined by the state's high court on Thursday.

The Karnataka HC denied requests from unions to take out a procession on May 1.

The unions were reportedly hoping to march from the City Railway Station or the Town Hall to the Freedom Park, where they would gather for a meeting, and thought that the permission would be granted by the HC considering that the HC had recently given out an order allowing a procession in the city for the Karaga festival.

However, their hopes were quashed as the HC denied the request and said that a procession from two directions by about 15,000 workers on a Sunday during day time would cause traffic congestions. It is to be noted that the Karaga procession happens after midnight.

The union had reportedly also asked the HC to change their order passed on March 3, which banned all rallies, protests and processions in the entire city, except at the Freedom park.

This too, was denied, after an advocate representing the government claimed that the order passed on March 3 was done so by a division bench headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, who was very clear on the issue.

The advocate representing the unions however said that the procession will be taken out from both ends, which are just 1 kilometer from the Freedom Park.

A vacation division bench headed by Justice R Devdas said that permissions are not required from either police or court if members of unions want to simply walk from the Town Hall or the Railway station to assemble at the Freedom park. Saying that a procession, however, cannot be allowed, the court disposed of all the applications.