Lawyer writes to Bombay High Court against MVA’s Maharashtra bandh

The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi had called for a bandh in Maharashtra on October 11 to protest against the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

A Mumbai based lawyer has written to the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court on Monday urging the court to take suo motu cognizance against the ‘illegal’ bandh called by the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi to protest against the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

Advocate Atalbihari Dubey has written a letter to Chief Justice Dipankar Datta saying, “It is the responsibility of the state to work for the betterment of its citizens and refrain from playing dual roles. Parties who are in power are responsible to protect (the) rights of the People of Maharashtra and cannot come with the Bandh which is going to violate fundamental rights of the citizens of Maharashtra.”

He has relied upon a Supreme Court judgment that reads, “organizing of a ‘bandh’ by a political party or other organizations, which has the effect of closing down all activities in a city or State by the threat of violence or by actual violence directed both against public and private property and against the vast majority who wish to exercise their right to work, trade, travel or study, violates the fundamental rights of the citizens of the State.”