the goan I network
PANAJI
The State administration has blinked in the face of severe criticism from civil society, the Opposition and others over its invoking Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) which imposes restrictions on public assembly of people and withdrew the controversial notification it issued last week citing intelligence inputs of a possible terror attack along the west coast.
The order issued by North Goa district magistrate R Meneka, IAS, on February 10 bringing Section 144 of the CrPC in force for a period of two months was withdrawn with “immediate effect” by another order issued on Monday.
The move to invoke the restrictive provision had triggered widespread criticism from civil society groups, a large number of which are currently engaged in holding sporadic protests like elsewhere in the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Population Register and the National Register of Citizens
(NRC).
While Chief Minister Pramod Sawant sought to describe the move to invoke Section 144 of the CrPC as a “routine exercise” carried out at regular intervals by the district administration in the wake of intelligence inputs of a potential terror attack, the Opposition and others termed it as a dictatorial move to crackdown on the anti-CAA-NPR-NRC protests.
Another section that strongly criticised the move was the hospitality industry which feared it could dent their business prospects and shoo away tourists expected to arrive for the upcoming Carnival and Holi festivals.
In addition to imposing curbs on assembly of people in public, Meneka in the notification issued on February 10 also mandated verification of tenants by landlords. It also directed owners of Cybercafes to verify the identity of their clients.
