NEW DELHI: The Bombay high court has quashed an FIR and chargesheet against a man booked for participating in a protest over poor road conditions in Maharashtra‘s Chandrapur district, observing that it would be a “sad day for democracy” if criminal prosecutions were used to suppress peaceful agitations. The court said people have a constitutional right to protest as long as they do not resort to violence, take the law into their own hands or damage public or private property.Justice MW Chandwani of the high court’s Nagpur bench made the observations in an order passed on October 29. A copy of the order was made available later.The case relates to an agitation held in January this year in Nandgaon village against the poor condition of a road. The protest followed an accident involving a vehicle on the damaged road. Residents had demanded action against the road contractor and officials of the Public Works Department.Nishkarsh Nimgade, a resident of Chandrapur district, was booked for participating in the agitation. The police alleged that the protesters had blocked the road by forming an unlawful assembly.Nimgade subsequently approached the High Court, seeking to quash the FIR and chargesheet filed against him.Allowing his petition, the court said Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution guarantees citizens the right to assemble peacefully and without arms.It observed that while reasonable restrictions could be imposed on the exercise of this fundamental right, vague charges must not be used to dilute or suppress it.
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“The lines between the constitutional right to protest and the unleashing of penal prosecutions cannot be allowed to be blurred. If this mindset gains traction, it would be a sad day for democracy,” the HC remarked.The court further said criminal prosecutions should not be initiated to stifle agitations that form part of the democratic process, provided protesters do not resort to violence or damage public or private property.Describing the prosecution of Nimgade as an abuse of the legal process, the High Court quashed the FIR and chargesheet against him.