Rival Groups Shall Not Be Permitted To Meet In Proximity Of Amaravati Maha Padayatra Against Three Capitals: High Court To State

The petitioner trust along with two persons alleged that after commencement of the Padayatra, certain members of the ruling party started opposing the Padayatra and that certain leaders and politicians started vilifying against the Padayatra by indulging in hate speeches. They also stated that various provocative posters were put up stating that 'any person wanting one capital, will get their heads chopped off.' It was also their claim that certain members of the ruling party were conceiving a conspiracy for infiltrating anti-social elements as participants in the Padayatra and for indulging in criminal activities.

Their case was that the State by taking a partisan role in the entire affair was affecting the rights of the participants of Padayatra including their rights under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution, despite the fact that the participants of the Padayatra had been walking for the past 39 days in a peaceful and Gandhian manner and had been expressing their dissent strictly in terms of the conditions laid down by the previous orders of the Court.

The State, on the other hand, argued that the earlier directions issued by the Court had been blatantly violated and a huge number of people, running into thousands, were being permitted to participate in the Padayatra, using abusive and provocative language. The State also contended that the prayer of the petitioners in asking the Court to allow them to express their views in any manner acceptable to them while ensuring that no person who is in opposition to those views is permitted to express their views was a violation of the fundamental rights of those persons, who oppose the views of the participants of the Padayatra.

The single bench of Justice R. Raghunandan Rao ordered that the procession of the Padayatra cannot consist of more than 600 persons whose details have already been furnished to the State. The Court ordered that any person seeking to express solidarity would have to express such solidarity only from the side lines and not by joining the procession.

In connection with 'rival groups' infiltrating the procession, the Court ordered that the State, while granting permission to any group expressing a rival opinion, shall ensure that the said procession or meeting of such rival groups shall not be in the proximity of the procession of the Padayatra, as per the approved route map and that the rival groups shall not be allowed to physically confront each other. Finally, the Court ordered that no more than four vehicles shall be allowed as part of the Padayatra.

Case Title: Amaravati Parirakshana Samiti v. State of Andhra Pradesh

Case No: Writ Petition No. 34412 of 2022

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (AP) 132 

Coram: Justice R. Raghunandan Rao

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