Fundamental Rights

https://www.firstpost.com/tag/riots-in-mumbai 

articles on.. Maharashtra Bandh by Dalit groups on Bhima Koregaon 

Maharashtra Congress holds cycle rallies to protest fuel price hike https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/maharashtra-congress-holds-cycle-rallies-to-protest-fuel-price-hike/article35351915.ece   JULY 15, 2021 22:37 IS

A delegation of party leaders and MLAs met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and submitted a memorandum highlighting key issues affecting people in the country, including providing political reservation for OBCs and withdrawing the three farm laws passed by the Centre.

Gateway of India not a venue for protests, says Maharashtra home minister https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/gateway-of-india-not-a-venue-for-protests-says-maharashtra-home-minister/story-QAJA4pJdoD733THXfv3s5M.html 
The Mumbai police on Tuesday morning forced out hundreds of protesters from Gateway of India and asked them to shift their protests to Azad Maidan.

Mumbai police will take legal action against the woman who was carrying a placard saying “Free Kashmir” during protest, said Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.

The Mumbai police have identified the woman as one Tejal Prabhu aka Mahek Mirza Prabhu, 37. She is a poet and storyteller.

Mumbai's 'Occupy Gateway' Protest Ends After People Forced To Leave https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/mumbai-activists-on-occupy-gateway-protests-over-jnu-mob-attack-forced-out-by-police-2159794
'Occupy Gateway': The crowd, mostly students, started gathering at the iconic monument by the sea in south Mumbai on Sunday night, hours after the masked mob attack at JNU.

Policemen earlier this morning physically dragged away protesters from the popular tourist site that became the epicentre of the "Occupy Gateway" protest, which was called off after the protesters reached Azad Maidan. The police say while some moved voluntarily, some had to be dragged away from the site after they refused to comply.

The police allowed the protesters to leave Azad Maidan after taking their names and other identity details. Many who initially refused to leave eventually gave their details to the police and left, sources said. For protests held without permission, the police usually make diary entries of the event and make a note of those participating in the protest.

 'Occupy Gateway' Protests Over JNU Mob Attack Forced Out By Mumbai Cops  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubw-j9e1WiY 
Jan 7, 2020

  Gateway Protest: 17 Including Senior Lawyer Arrested
 (JNU)https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/city-news/gateway-protest-17-including-senior-lawyer-arrested.html  At least 17 persons including a senior advocate, activists and journalists were arrested by the police in connection with a protest at the Gateway of India here last month against the violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University

On Tuesday, the police had arrested senior advocate Mihir Desai and Lara Jesani, another lawyer, in the case.

Human rights lawyer Susan Abraham, a student leader from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences Shefali Saini, activists Suvarna Sable, Feroz Mithiborwala and senior journalist Jatin Desai were among those arrested on Wednesday.

"All the arrested accused were released on personal bonds," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) Sangramsingh Nishandar.

All of them were named in the First Information Report registered on January 7 at the Colaba police station in south Mumbai, he said.

The FIR named more than 60 people, including Desai, Jesani and former JNU student leader Umar Khalid.

Over 2,000 people, mostly college students, gathered at the iconic Gateway of India on January 7 to protest against an attack by masked goons on JNU campus as well as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens.

In Mumbai, the Fundamental Right to Show Dissent Has Been Violated for 30 Years  https://thewire.in/rights/mumbai-protest-section-144 

Successive and overlapping Section 144 orders since 1993 have put paid to Mumbaikars' ability to protest where and when they want to.

The Wire has accessed orders issued in the past year and almost all of them are worded similarly. Even the concerns raised in them read the same. DCP Ashok shok says since these are routine orders, much emphasis is not put on redrafting them. “Every two months, these orders get issued and they are mostly almost worded the same way,” he tells The Wire.

In the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan vs Union of India case, the apex court in 2018, 

“It is argued on behalf of the respondents that as there is no change in the situation, which remains the same insofar as the sensitivity of this area and specific/peculiar conditions prevailing, such orders in the repetitive form are necessitated. Even if we accept this position and proceed on that basis, this would only mean continuous regulation of the proposed public meetings, processions, demonstrations, etc. by not allowing the same in ‘unrestricted’ manner. However, in reality, no such activities are allowed at all.”

Similarly, in the Ramlila Maidan incident of 2011, when the Supreme Court was faced with the issue of police excesses for the purpose of enforcing an order under Section 144, the court had observed that the right to assembly and peaceful agitation were basic features of a democratic system and the government should encourage the exercise of these rights.

It observed:

“The people of a democratic country like ours have a right to raise their voice against the decisions and actions of the Government or even to express their resentment over the actions of the Government on any subject of social or national importance. The Government has to respect and, in fact, encourage exercise of such rights. It is the abundant duty of the State to aid the exercise of the right to freedom of speech as understood in its comprehensive sense and not to throttle or frustrate the exercise of such rights by exercising its executive or legislative powers and passing orders or taking action in that the direction in the name of reasonable restrictions.”

Mumbai: 60 booked for BJP protest against potholes in Andher i  https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/mumbai-60-booked-for-bjp-protest-against-potholes-in-andheri/articleshow/86718569.cms Oct 3, 2021,

Over 60 Bharatiya Yuva Morcha members were booked for unlawful assembly, rioting and violation of Covid-19 prohibitory orders at Andheri (E) Oct 2, 2021

While BJP claimed police resorted to a lathicharge on a peaceful protest, police said protestors manhandled them when they tried to evict them.