AP High Court suspends GO. No. 1 restricting public meetings, gatherings on roads & highways till Jan 23

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday suspended GO no. 1 issued by the Andhra Pradesh government restricting the conduct of public meetings and gatherings on roads and highways till 23 January.

CPI AP state secretary Ramakrishna had filed a lunch motion petition against GO no. 1. The AP High Court conducted a hearing on Thursday and said the GO was against the rules and directed the government to file a counter by 20 January.

A GO was issued after two back-to-back stampedes during Telugu Desam Party programmes that left 11 people dead in Kandukuri and Guntur districts. The government order issued by the principal secretary (Home), Harish Kumar Gupta, said the right to conduct a public meeting on public roads and streets is a subject matter of regulation as Section 30 of the Police Act 1861 itself mandates. Only in rare and exceptional circumstances, permission for public meetings may be considered.

As per the GO, the police were directed to identify "designated places" away from public roads for the conduct of public meetings, which do not hamper the flow of traffic, public movement, emergency services, and movement of essential commodities.

It may be noted that TDP leaders have lashed out at the government for passing the GO, saying that the government is creating hurdles for their party meetings. TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh is gearing up for his 400-day padayatra—Yuva Galam—from 27 January which will start from Kuppam.