T’gana HC grants permission to Bandi Sanjay for padayatra
Sanjay was detained at Venkatapur in Jagitial district while he was on his way to Bhainsa town and was forced to go to Karimnagar, where he was kept under house arrest.
The Telangana high court on Monday granted permission to state Bharatiya Janata Party president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay to commence his fifth phase of padayatra from Nirmal district, hours after the police detained him saying “he had no permission to take up the foot march.
Sanjay was to address a public meeting at Bhainsa town in Nirmal district on Monday along with Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, before commencing his padayatra.
Nirmal superintendent of police (SP) C Praveen Kumar, however, said “the yatra won’t be allowed in view of the possibility of Sanjay making provocative comments in the communally sensitive area”.
Sanjay was detained at Venkatapur in Jagitial district while he was on his way to Bhainsa town and was forced to go to Karimnagar, where he was kept under house arrest.
Following this, senior BJP leader and advocate N Ramachander Rao moved a lunch motion petition in the state high court on Monday, challenging the police orders.
A high court bench headed by justice B Vijaysen Reddy, who heard the arguments on both the sides, accorded permission to Sanjay to take up his padayatra, but restricted him from addressing any public meeting within a 3km radius of Bhainsa town.
The judge also directed that public meetings should be held “between 3pm and 5pm with not more than 3,000 people in attendance”. He also directed that there should be “no provocative speeches and no more than 500 people should participate in the padayatra”. Even those participating in it should not carry any sticks with them, he said.
Hailing the judgement, Sanjay said he will take up the padayatra after performing special prayers at Ademma Pochamma temple later in the evening.
He wondered why the police were denying permission to hold a meeting at Bhainsa, as if it was not in the country. “Why would we not be allowed to hold a meeting there? It is the responsibility of police to protect the law and order. We never made any provocative speeches, but by imposing such restrictions, the police are trying to create a tense atmosphere,” he said.
In the fifth phase, Sanjay will cover 220km over three Lok Sabha and eight assembly constituencies in five districts, and will end the yatra at Karimnagar on December 17.