HC reserves its order on Adani port’s petition for police protection

The petition said that protesters were trying to prevent/ delay the commissioning of the project by obstructing the construction work

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on a writ petition filed by the Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd, seeking police protection for the completion and operation of the Vizinjam International Seaport Project.

When the petition came up for hearing, the counsel for the petitioners including the Managing Director of the company submitted that the work had been going on for a long time and nobody had raised any complaints against it so far. However, all of a sudden, the clergies under the Latin Catholic Dioceses called for agitation to which a large number of people responded and started joining the agitation in front of the project site.

Counsel pointed out that these protesters were not local people. The police were unable to control the situation when they broke the barricades erected by the police and stormed into the project site.

The petition said that protesters were trying to prevent/ delay the commissioning of the project by obstructing the construction work. Though the petitioners had approached the police for protection, no effective protection had been provided to them. The agitation had caused heavy losses and damages to the company and its contractor.