Continuous imposition of Section 144 is required in 'politically, socially active' Ahmedabad: Police

Defending the continuous imposition of Section 144 of code of criminal procedure (CrPC) and section 37 Bombay Police Act that bars assembly of more than four persons in public, the state police has said that since "Ahmedabad is a very active city politically as well as socially where an incident taken place elsewhere within or outside the state creates sensitive situation," these restrictions are required to maintain law and order.

The police have cited examples of incidents that turned violent and led to massive rallies across the state in the past five years.

The list includes the Patidar agitation for reservation led by Hardik Patel in 2015, the flogging of Dalit youths in Una town of Gir-Somnath district in 2016, rape of 14-month-old that sparked protests against migrant workers in Sabarkantha and the panic led to "exodus-like situation", protest against release of the movie Padmavat, illegal detention of students at fugitive self-styled godman Nithyananda Swami in December 2019 and recent violent protest during agitation against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). The police have also cited past cases from 2002 (post Godhra riots) to 2015 without identifying each case.

These are argument made by the state in an affidavit filed in Gujarat High Court in response to a petition moved by two professors of Indian Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, one professor from Ahmedabad University and two entrepreneurs challenging the continued imposition of Section 144 in the city.

In the affidavit, it has been mentioned, "There is history of many incidents of similar nature having serious bearing on peace and public order from the year 2002 to 2015 also. Therefore, there is a situation wherein law and order is needed to be taken care of in the city of Ahmedabad even though the incident had not happened within the jurisdiction of city of Ahmedabad. Further, there are many other situations like gathering of large number of people to celebrate a win in a cricket match by Indian team during the cricket match, wherein law and order situation needs to be taken care of."

The affidavit also states that in recent years, police have observed that rallies and public gathering for supporting or opposing a cause have increased. According to the affidavit, 146 instances of rioting had been registered in 2017, which rose to 201 in 2018. In 2019, however, the figure dropped to 149.

"Had the police authority not acted swiftly to control these offences any of these incidents might have the potential of turning into a major law and order situation," the affidavit claims.