Activist-lawyer moves HC over Worli gridlock during BJP rally

The plea invokes Article 226 and cites the Supreme Court’s ruling in Amit Sahni v. Commissioner of Police, which prohibits blocking public roads in the name of protests

MUMBAI: An activist-lawyer has written to the Bombay high court seeking suo motu action over a massive traffic jam caused by a Bharatiya Janata Party rally in Worli on Tuesday during peak hours, which brought a key arterial road to a near standstill.

Activist-lawyer moves HC over Worli gridlock during BJP rally

Advocate Faiyaz Alam Shaikh, in a letter petition to the chief justice, said the morcha led to severe congestion on Lala Lajpat Rai Marg (National Sports Complex of India stretch), raising concerns about public safety, protest norms and citizens’ fundamental right to free movement under Articles 19(1)(d) and 21 of the Constitution.

The BJP rally was organised around the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam to target opposition parties after the defeat of a Constitution amendment bill on women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha.

The plea invokes Article 226 and cites the Supreme Court’s ruling in Amit Sahni v. Commissioner of Police, which prohibits blocking public roads in the name of protests. It also refers to earlier high court directions restricting protests in Mumbai to designated venues such as Azad Maidan.

Public anger over the issue was also visible on Tuesday when a woman confronted BJP leader Girish Mahajan during the rally.

Videos on social media show the woman objecting to the traffic chaos and asking Mahajan to leave, saying the rally should have been held at an open ground instead of blocking roads. “Get out of here. You are causing a traffic jam,” she said.