Mumbai High Court disallows petition asking permission for protest meeting against Gaza atrocities
According to a news report of July 25, 2025, of The Deccan Herald, “…the Bombay High Court dismissed a petition filed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) challenging the Mumbai Police’s refusal to grant permission for a protest meeting at Azad Maidan to register their protest against the alleged Israeli genocide…”
There are numerous issues associated with other observations of the Bombay High Court, which pontificated the petitioners to concentrate on the problems in the country including such civic matters as garbage disposal, sewage issues. The Bombay High Court said that patriotism does not include having to take a stand on matters taking place thousands of kilometres away and claimed that the atmosphere would be vitiated if such a protest were to take a position on Israel versus Palestine, because that would have meant an interference in the foreign policy of the country. The observations from the Bombay High Court also contained sarcastic remarks questioning the integrity of the CPI(M) and what can and cannot be considered `patriotic’.
The CPI (M) had filed a plea to challenge Mumbai Police’s rejection of application filed by an association which had applied for permission to stage a protest at Azad Maidan, a designated place for protest and rallies. Prima facie it is not clear why the permission was denied by the Mumbai Police, although the typical reasons for not granting such permission include a threat to public order or the possibility of creating disharmony between communities. In the present instance, there is hardly any reason to suspect that any such threat to public order or to creating public nuisance or disrupting normal life. While one may speculate that the reasons could really be that the Government does not want any embarrassment in the international arena, it is clear is that the denial of the permission is violative of the right to peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of expression, which are guaranteed by the Constitution of India.
Moreover, the atrocities committed by the Israeli authorities in Gaza are so horrific that people all over the world have protested vociferously against them. This includes people in countries like the USA whose government supports the Israeli regime, and in fact by Israeli citizens themselves! So why are the authorities in India so adamant in preventing public protests Israeli atrocities in Gaza?
While the appeal to the Bombay High Court was to seek relief from the denial of these fundamental rights, it resulted in the judges not only refusing to defend freedom of speech and association. In fact, the High Court has justified the blatant negation of these rights by the authorities in Mumbai! It is not up to the court or the authorities to judge what is an “acceptable” view and what is not. The duty of the court is to defend the right to speech and association. Hence, this order of the Bombay High Court which justifies repression by the authorities and the throttling of fundamental rights, especially the right to conscience, which is an inviolable human right, must be denounced by all justice-minded persons.
Furthermore, the observations of the Bombay High Court on the question of what constitutes `patriotism’ and the needless sermon on why we as Indians should concentrate on civic issues such as garbage disposal and sewage problems is a slap on the face of all citizens who dare to question decisions of the state, be it on foreign policy or other branch of governance. Such observations are totally unjustified, and they neither morally nor even legally tenable. No legislature or judicial branch can force an individual or a group of individuals or any collective of citizens to think or act on any issue or issues. It is a person herself of himself, who as a discerning human being, who has a right to think about any issue and hold an opinion on it, however desirable or unpalatable to the authorities. The sermon constitutes undesirable judicial overreach, and the order should be condemned. It could be explored as to whether it could be challenged in front of larger bench of the Bombay High Court or in any other High Court or in the Supreme Court.
The actions of Israel and its allies in the Gaza Strip have been condemned globally. There are protests every single day across the length and breadth of the globe. The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel must end its occupation. The International Criminal Court has issued warrants against senior Israeli government officials. Even governments of countries otherwise friendly to the US such as France and Germany have spoken out against the atrocities. However, the government of India has not yet done so. And yet to say that Indian people cannot assemble to voice their disgust and their opposition to the blatant violation of human rights of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is a shame on a country that claims to be the world’s largest democracy. Irrespective of one’s ideological slant or one’s belief, all Indian people must come together and condemn the atrocities in Gaza and unite to defend their own fundamental right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.
Source of image: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/editorial/when-courts-define-protest-and-patriot-3652864#google_vignette
by BA and Venkatesh Sundaram
