Ahmedabad; 29 Aug 2021 (UMMN): Bench of Justice Paresh Upadhyay of Gujarat High Court, after hearing the plea of a social activist
Mohammed Kaleem Siddiqui on Thursday, quashed an externment order passed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, 'A' Division, Ahmedabad City, noting that a citizen can't be subjected to externment for raising his grievance against the Government.
Siddiqui was part of a crowd of unknown persons who were demonstrating against NRC/CAA, and was externed for a period of one year from several districts of Gujarat including Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Kheda and Mehsana.
"Citizen can not be subjected to externment for raising his grievance against the Government…” said Justice Upadhyay.
According to LiveLaw.in, last week too, the Gujarat High Court came down heavily on the State's authorities for encroaching upon the liberty of citizens by externing people from the Union territories (outside the Gujarat State's Jurisdiction), upon which they do not have any jurisdiction.
Gujarat High Court stayed an externment order passed passed by the SDM, Godhra Prant against a man after he criticized a BJP MLA, without the authority of law and beyond the Magistrate's authority.
"If the grievance of the citizen against local MLAs are to be dealt with in this manner, not only the citizen needs to be protected, even the response needs to be asked from the concerned MLA, whether he supports such an order,"
"The SDM should be shifted immediately, they are custodians of Public Trust and not of the local politicians. Will you extern a person based on his complaint/question against MLA not doing his work? If one is complaining against an MLA, FIR is registered and the externment has been passed. SDM is the custodian of whom?", asked Justice Upadhyay.
