Attukal Pongala: Case registered against 1000 women

Monday, March 12, 2012: The Thiruvananthapuram Fort police have registered case against 1000 women for creating a road block and restricting free movement during the famous Attukal pongala festival held on March 7.
The Fort police have registered case as per the High Court directive on June 24th imposing a ban on wayside meetings. A report regarding this has been submitted before the Chief judicial magistrate Court.
Earlier report: -
The court had earlier imposed a restriction on public rallies and meetings by political parties and different organizations in the State. According to the direction those conducting rallies and meetings
should give prior information about the number of participants and those exceeding this should be blocked.
The Bench comprising Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair and Justice P.S. Gopinathan directed the police, Public Works, Local Self-Government and Revenue Departments not to grant permission for holding public meetings by the roadside. The court directed the police to remove the stage and other paraphernalia if the roadside held such a meeting.
The court made it clear that it had issued this prohibitory order in order to ensure free flow of traffic on public roads and also for the safety of the travelling public. It held that holding of public meetings by the roadside would create road blocks. Besides, holding such a meeting ran a risk due to the possibility of rashly driven vehicles ploughing through the assembled crowd and consequent loss of life could not be ruled out.
The court suggested that the government could permit public meetings on holidays on the playground of schools or other educational institutions under its control or on open grounds located away from public roads. It directed the Chief Secretary to communicate the order to all departments, including all local bodies and the police.