AP High Court scraps GO 1 aimed at restricting rallies, meetings on public roads

AMARAVATI: In a significant blow to the AP State government, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday struck down Government Order (G.O) No 1 that restricts meetings and rallies on public roads. The government issued the order on January 2, 2023, following two incidents of stampedes in TDP meetings that led to the death of 11 people.

A division bench consisting of Chief Justice Prashanth Kumar Mishra and Justice DVSS Somayajulu delivered the judgment, in connection with the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by CPI state secretary K. Ramakrishna and petitions filed by former Minister Kollu Ravindra, AP Congress Leader Gidugu Veera Venkata Rudraraju, and former Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana urging the court to scrap the controversial G.O.

The petitioners argued that the G.O. was aimed at silencing voices of dissent by restricting opposition parties from organising public meetings. They pointed out that the government order also went against Section 30 of the Police Act which gave a free hand to the district-level police officials to grant such permissions.

The judgment came on Friday after the bench reserved the verdict on January 24, 2023. The bench in its order has observed that the order violated fundamental rights.

Earlier, the High Court suspended the G.O. while hearing the petition filed by the CPI state secretary K. Ramakrishna. The court while directing the state government to file a counter-petition, said that its orders would be in force till January 23, 2023.

The state government then moved the Supreme Court to challenge the High Court's order. However, a division bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha refused to look into the merits of the Special Leave Petition filed by the state government and asked the High Court to hear the matter on January 23, 2023.

As the judgment on the petition filed in the AP High Court against the G.O. was reserved, the petitioners complaining delay approached the Supreme Court. The bench of the Chief Justice of India accepted the petition.

At the hearing, the apex court made certain comments regarding the investigation. The SC bench directed the division bench of the AP High Court to complete the trial at the earliest. It suggested the petitioners to return to High Court leading to an early verdict.