PANAJI
Heavy police deployment and barricades turned Azad Maidan into a virtual fortress on Sunday as authorities blocked a protest called by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) Goa as part of their nationwide agitation demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) controversy.
Police sealed entry points to the iconic protest venue after the administration earlier denied permission for the gathering. Activists and supporters arriving at the site were stopped from entering, triggering confrontations with law enforcement personnel.
In the melee, several of protesters managed to enter the Azad Maidan ground and six of them were detained, including CCP Corporation Jack Sukhija and CJP Goa volunteers Amreen Shaikh, Aditya Parulekar, Bupesh Bindh, Liston Noronha, Shamiro Fernandes and Milind Rane.
They were reportedly taken in a bus to Pernem police station where their phones were confiscated.
At Azad Maidan, the strong police presence remained in place throughout, with barricades erected around the iconic protest site's periphery, drawing criticism from demonstrators, who accused the administration of stifling democratic dissent.
Retired Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, Ferdino Rebello arrived at the venue and questioned the legal basis for denying permission for the protest. His intervention added weight to the protesters' argument that citizens have a fundamental right to peaceful assembly and expression.
With access to Azad Maidan blocked, activists stayed rooted on the city crucial MG Road blocking traffic for close to an hour before regrouping and marching to the nearby Municipal Garden, where they continued their demonstration.
Addressing the protesters, Justice Rebello strongly objected to the denial of access to Azad Maidan, describing it as an unjustified curtailment of the democratic right to dissent.
He questioned the legal basis for refusing permission for a peaceful protest and expressed solidarity with the youth-led agitation. The demonstration was also backed by Rebello's "Enough Is Enough" movement and noted environmentalist Claude Alvares, his wife and Padmashree Norma Alvares among others joined in with calls for electoral accountability and transparency.
HC directs release of those detained
In a special late night hearing of a Habeas Corpus petition, a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court at Goa of Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar ordered the release of Jack Sukhija and the five others.
The bench directed the release after nearly an hour-long hearing moved on behalf of the detainees by Senior Counsel Norma Alvares.
The detainees were released from the Panaji police station around 9.40 pm after they were brought in a bus from Pernem police station.
According to Alvares, the High Court also heard the Public Prosecutor and the police in the matter and will hold further hearing at noon on Monday to examine the conduct of the State in detaining them in Panaji and transporting to Pernem police station.
