Parties have no right to call for bandhs: HC

Hyderabad, Jan 22: Responding to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a civilian, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on Friday opined that political parties have no right to call for bandhs, dharnas and rasta-rokos.Making a sensational statement on the case, the High Court said if the political parties want to express their resentment against a Government policy, they should do so in a way that it should not cause any inconvenience to the public.

According to legal sources, the irony lies in the fact that bandhs are being observed when a majority of people want to use their fundamental right to protest seeking ‘economic democracy’.If any damage is caused to private or government properties, the political parties who gave a call for such bandh should pay the compensation. If there are no rules or laws to contol these incidents of violence causing destruction,

then the government should frame rules to contain  such incidents. The law should be modified so that these political parties will not resort to violence in the guise of bandhs.The court also directed the media to play its role with social responsibility by avoiding provocative statements of leaders or airing acts of violence on the screen.