High Court grants permission, with conditions, to Bandi Sanjay’s yatra and meeting

G Premendar Reddy of the BJP moving court on the issue, Justice B Vijaysen Reddy passed the conditional order permitting the yatra, making it clear that the meeting or procession should be outside the municipal limits of Bhainsa town.

Hyderabad:  The Telangana High Court on Monday passed a conditional order, permitting the fifth phase of BJP State chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s Praja Sangrama Yatra in Bhainsa of Nirmal district. The Nirmal police had earlier denied permission to the yatra and a public meeting at Bhainsa, citing the communal sensitivity of the town.

However, with G Premendar Reddy of the BJP moving court on the issue, Justice B Vijaysen Reddy passed the conditional order permitting the yatra, making it clear that the meeting or procession should be outside the municipal limits of Bhainsa town. The proposed meeting at Bhainsa Y Junction could be permitted if it was beyond three kilometres from Bhainsa Municipality or the BJP could choose any other meeting place three km away from the town. The judge also made it clear that there should be no provocative speeches targeting any particular religion and said members or people participating in the meeting should not be permitted to carry sticks or arms.

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Stating that the maximum number of participants in the public meeting should be 3,000 and 500 in the padayatra, the judge also issued directions to the police to take appropriate action if organisers or members violated the conditions. The petitioner, Premendar Reddy, should take responsibility and indemnify loss of property or life in the event of any untoward incident, the court held.

Earlier, Advocate General BS Prasad, representing the State police, said Bhainsa was a communally sensitive area and had a history of violence. The rejection was based on the data of the numbers of communal cases registered earlier. When BJP counsel N.Ramchandra Rao argued against this, the additional AG pointed out that Bandi Sanjay was capable of triggering communal hatred and had earlier indulged in provocation of violence against other religions.

On being informed by a police officer present in the court that Bhainsa Y-Junction was within half a kilometre from the town, the court recorded an undertaking of the BJP party counsel that they would not enter Bhainsa town. If the meeting was not conducted on Monday for any reason, it could be permitted tomorrow with the same conditions.