Imposition of CrPC 144: Violation of the Right to Dissent

16 August 2011, Delhi: The New Trade Union Initiative strongly condemns the imposition of Section 144 and the ‘pre-emptive’ arrest of Anna Hazare and several others even before they attempted or began their protest.

Delhi police imposed the prohibitory section 144 around Jai Prakash Narayan Park and other places yesterday after the protestors demanding for a Jan Lokpal Bill did not agree to 2 of 22 conditions which were imposed by the police. The disagreements were primarily on putting a cap of three days in which to conclude their protest and restricting the total number of participants to 5,000. These clauses of the conditions go against the very right to protest in a democratic society.

The order is also in contrary to the Delhi Government’s own notification issued in May this year. In the May 2011 notification, the government accepted that the imposition of Section 144 can be done primarily during emergency situations to maintain law and order. This notification came as a result of a PIL filed in the High Court of Delhi by an activist in support of the protests by the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy challenging the prohibitory orders and continuous imposition of section 144 in Central Delhi.

Earlier in the month, the Delhi police had refused the right to protest in Jantar Mantar, saying the venue has ‘little capacity’ and no single organisation can be allowed to ‘usurp or lay exclusive claim’ to it. By imposing this order, the state is further shrinking the limited space to hold peaceful protests and assert the right to freedom of expression.

The present detentions under Section 144 and the subsequent judicial remand raise the question of what constitutes an emergency situation and notion of law and order as perceived by the government.

NTUI strongly holds that the imposition of Section 144 to stop a public demonstration in opposition to the legislative proposals of an incumbent government is in clear violation of the spirit of the right to dissent. The NTUI calls upon the Union Government that exercises control over Delhi Police to immediately withdraw CrPC 144 at Jai Prakash Narayan Park and ensure the release of Mr. Hazare and others without reference to the imposition of CrPC 144 in the national capital on 15 and 16 August 2011.