Protest Is A Tool In Hands Of Civil Society & Police Action Is A Tool In Hands Of Establishment
Case: Ravi Namboothiri vs K A Baiju
Coram: Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and V. Ramasubramanian
Case No.: CA 8261 – 8262 OF 2022
Court Observation: “Just as strike is a weapon in the hands of the workmen and lockout is a weapon in the hands of the employer under Labour Welfare legislations, protest is a tool in the hands of the civil society and police action is a tool in the hands of the Establishment. All State enactments such as Kerala Police Act, Madras Police Act etc., are aimed at better regulation of the police force and they do not create substantive offences. Just as strike is a weapon in the hands of the workmen and lockout is a weapon in the hands of the employer under Labour Welfare legislations, protest is a tool in the hands of the civil society and police action is a tool in the hands of the Establishment. All State enactments such as Kerala Police Act, Madras Police Act etc., are aimed at better regulation of the police force and they do not create substantive offences. While This is why these Acts themselves empower the police to issue necessary directions for the maintenance of law and order and the violation of any of those directions is made a punishable offence under these Acts.”
“Kerala Police Act, 1960 is actually the successor legislation of certain police enactments of the colonial era, whose object was to scuttle the democratic aspirations of the indigenous population. This aspect should be kept in mind before applying blindfold, the principle ‘what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gande'”
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