On Thursday, the Kerala High Court ordered the now banned organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) to pay Rs. 5.20 crores for the damages estimated by the State Government and the Kerala State Road Transport (KSRTC) as a result of the violent flash hartal in the state on called on September 23 by the banned organisation. The PFI has been ordered to deposit the fine within a period of two weeks with the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department.
The directive was given by Kerala High Court during suo motu proceedings against PFI leaders for calling an illegal dawn-to-husk hartal and for the vandalism and damage done to both public and private property. The now banned group has called the bandh in protest against the arrest of its leaders during a nationwide raid on its offices in several states. PFI was banned for five years by the union govt on September 27 following the raids and arrests.
The #KeralaHighCourt, on Thursday, in suo motu proceedings against the leaders of Popular Front of India (PFI), noting the illegal call for flash hartal in the State, has directed PFI to deposit an amount of Rs.5.20 crores
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) September 29, 2022
Read more: https://t.co/8YlVgRPEZ0#hartal #PFl #ksrtc pic.twitter.com/Qyc1Wj0WAQ
Political parties who engage in flash hartals in direct defiance of the Court’s prior direction will suffer severe repercussions, according to a division bench comprising Justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Mohammed Nias CP.
“Regardless of the political parties, flash hartals in the State are not going to happen. Citizens’ daily lives cannot be harmed. The message is unmistakable. Anybody who does this will face repercussions. The Constitution allows for organizations to hold protests in support of any cause, but it forbids flash hartals. Any demonstration that causes inconvenience to the public by way of blockage of roads, traffic, etc. is not permitted,” the bench observed.
It is noteworthy that the Kerala High Court in a 2019 order had banned flash hartals in the state. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar ordered that hartals can be declared only after giving prior notice of seven days and that any citizen can challenge the declaration of hartal within seven days.
Flash hartals, or strikes called without following the protocol of giving seven days’ clear public notice, would be declared illegal or unconstitutional and would have detrimental ramifications for the person(s) or party initiating the strike, the Court had stated.
On Tuesday, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) moved to the Kerala HC seeking reimbursement of Rs 5.06 crores from the Popular Front of India (PFI) for losses caused to the corporation during the strike called by the PFI. On September 13, the PFI staged statewide demonstrations against the NIA raids and damaged around 71 KSRTC buses.
Taking up the matter today, the court ordered the State Government to make PFI General Secretary Abdul Sattar an additional accused in all the cases registered in connection with the flash hartal.
Every time the word hartal is said, the meaning among the populace varies. People are living in perpetual fear. What does a common man have to do with all this? Ordinary citizen suffers, and for what? Not supporting your ideology?” the Court asks.
The court strongly condemned the act of terror that caused mayhem in the state during the PFI’s flash hartal and stated that immediate and swift action will ensure that such an act never occurs again.
The court also criticized the government for failing to enforce its clear ruling prohibiting flash hartals in the order it issued today. It asserted that if the government had acted in this way, significant damage to citizens’ daily lives and property would have been averted.
In the order, the Court directed Magistrates and Sessions courts in the State to ensure that payment of any amount quantified toward damage or destruction of property by any of the accused is insisted upon by the accused in question as a condition for the grant of bail to him when considering the applications for release on bond of those people against whom the police have registered cases in connection with the PFI’s flash hartal.
The court further clarified that the fine amount imposed on the PFI shall be purely provisional and duly accounted for and held by the state government in a separate and dedicated account for disbursal to those claimants who are identified by the Claims Commissioner to be entitled to such amounts. Additionally, the respondents will also be liable for any additional sums determined to be due to the claimants during the adjudication process before the Claims Commissioner.
