In the order, the bench stated “let the application already given by the Petitioner on November 10, 2023 for holding the Mahapanchayat on December 4, 2023 be treated as a representation for holding the Mahapanchayat on December 18, 2023, and the Respondent No.3/MCD and the Police Authorities are directed to consider the feasibility for holding the Mahapanchayat at Ramlila Ground, Delhi on December 18, 2023.” (Para 5)

The said order was issued by the court while dealing with a plea moved by the aforementioned organisation seeking direction on the authorities to act upon its request and grant NOC to organise the public gathering at Ramlila Ground. As per a report in LiveLaw, the said organisation was founded by Advocate Mehmood Pracha and claims to work for creating awareness among the masses, especially the depressed classes, about their constitutional rights. It was the organisation’s case in the petition that it sought to initiate a series of events, starting from the event, for strengthening of all weaker sections, including Muslim and other minority communities like SC, ST, OBC and that voices of “all the oppressed people” would be raised in the meeting.

The order also provided that while the permission by the organisation was initially sought for holding the public meeting on December 4, the MCD provided that the Ramlila Ground was available for the said date but the same can only be allotted subject to NOC from Delhi Police. In its counter affidavit, the Delhi Police stated that NOC on the said date had already been given to Maha Tyagi Seva Sansthan for organising ‘Mahayagya for Vishwa Jan Kalyan’ at Ramlila Ground from December 3 to December 15, and therefore, Ramlila Ground was not available for December 4.

The court, in its order, said that it was not going into the controversy as to whether the Maha Tyagi Seva Sansthan should have first approached the MCD and then the Police Authorities or as to whether the petitioner organisation should have first approached the Police Authorities and then the MCD. Rather, the court urged the authorities to provide such a date where no function is scheduled at the ground so that the Mahapanchayat can be organised.

“This Court is not going into the controversy as to whether the Maha Tyagi Seva Sansthan should have first approached the MCD and then the Police Authorities or as to whether the Petitioner herein should have first approached the Police Authorities and then the MCD. In order to cut short the controversy, this Court had requested the learned Counsel for the MCD and the Police Authorities to give those dates on which no function is scheduled to be organised at Ramlila Ground, Delhi,” the court stated in its order (Para 3)

The counsel appearing for the organisation submitted that out of the dates given by the MCD and the Police Authorities, December 18 was the most convenient for holding the Mahapanchayat. The matter will now be heard on November 28.

The order of the High Court can be read here:

Prior denial of holding the Mahapanchayat by the Court

The aforementioned order of the High Court had come after the same bench had, on October 25, refused to grant permission to the organisation to hold a similar public meeting at the Ramlila Ground on October 29. Justice Subramonium Prasad upheld the Delhi Police’s decision which had withdrawn the permission granted to the organisation for holding the meeting, observing that it cannot be held to be arbitrary. Notably, it was the police’s stand that the proposed event was “communal”.

The court refused to grant permission for October 29 noting that during that time, several festivals will be celebrated. Besides, the court also said that the tenure of the posters of the organisation show that the event can have communal overtones and might increase communal tension in the Old Delhi area which has already witnessed communal tensions in the past.

Hence, the court observed that the “apprehension of the SHO (Station House Officer) of the concerned area” cannot be washed away by constitutional courts. It further said that though there is freedom to raise voice but the possibility of communal tension cannot be ignored.

While rejecting the petition, the court however said that it is always open to the authorities, after the festive season is over, to consider afresh the organisation’s plea for permission to hold the event. Justice Prasad ruled that the organisation’s fresh plea for permission will be considered by the authorities on its own merits, subject to the organisation providing a list of speakers and an undertaking that the meeting will not cause any communal tension.

 Related:

“Can have communal overtones’: Delhi High Court turns down permission for “Muslim Mahapanchayat” on Oct 29

Muslim Mahapanchayat in Uttarakhand to raise concerns over targeting of community

Haryana’s farmers’ Mahapanchayat: Fostering unity across communities, vowing for communal harmony

Growing calls for social and economic boycott of Muslims surfacing on social media, plea in the Supreme Court 

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Public health, one of the most important planks of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) used extensively during Delhi Assembly elections, is surprisingly missing during the campaigning for the December 4 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election.

During the campaigning for the last Assembly election, the ruling AAP presented its Mohalla Clinics as an example of its success in providing healthcare. However, health is not the party’s main poll plank this time with the AAP only asking some healthcare-related questions from the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The condition of MCD hospitals is not hidden with news of staff strikes and the collapse of parts of dilapidated buildings frequently making headlines.

The Newsclick team visited Kalkaji’s Purnima Sethi Multi-Speciality Hospital, the only MCD hospital in south Delhi, to learn more about its services and treatment. 

It has been only a few years since this hospital was built but its dilapidated condition with broken windows and doors, dusty registration desks and piles of filth tell the tale of neglect. The basement is submerged and the stink of the huge garbage dump next to the first gate is unbearable.

Only OPD facility available in ‘multi-speciality’ hospital

Despite being known as a multi-speciality hospital, it only has an OPD facility from Monday to Sunday with no emergency, surgery or diagnosis facilities. Patients on dialysis allege that it is not administered properly and they have to pay for it. Besides, medicines are rarely available and are mostly purchased from outside, they further allege.

Suresh, who owns a small shop near the hospital, tells Newsclick that the hospital was inaugurated by former Union finance minister Arun Jaitley in 2015. “We were told that it would be a 100-bed hospital where facilities for dengue, malaria, blood and urine tests would be available and would benefit more than 10 lakh people. However, none of the facilities are available. Even partial services were available after more than a year,” he says.

Hospital ‘dependent on God’

Some of the employees requesting anonymity say that the hospital is “dependent on God” adding that “no treatment is available except for fever and cough”, and the number of doctors varies from 2-4 to 8-10. 

One of the OPD patients who has had fever for the last week says he didn’t get an appointment despite visiting the hospital multiple times. The OPD starts around 9 am-10 am and closes around 1 pm, he adds. “Only patients whose numbers are called out by the staff are treated. Common people aren’t treated despite queuing up for hours.”

Common people deprived of health services amid blame game

Recently, AAP MLA Atishi said that the hospital’s construction symbolised the BJP’s “corruption” and “misgovernance” in the last 15 years. “The hospital was to be built in 2005 for Rs 6.70 crore. But the BJP has not been able to complete the construction despite spending Rs 35 crore,” she alleged. “The BJP has done only two things in 15 years—

corruption and misgovernance.”

In response, the MCD alleged that the AAP government did not release funds on time, which stalled the construction.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Delhi civic body by-poll elections in five wards concluded with four seats for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), one seat for the Indian National Congress and none for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The voting was held in two North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) wards, Rohini-C and Shalimar Bagh (North) and three East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) wards, Trilokpuri, Kalyanpuri and Chauhan Banger, on February 28. The voter turnout was 50.86 percent.

AAP retained Kalyanpuri and Trilokpuri seats and won the Rohini C voting. The latter seat was previously won by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) but was vacated when its councillor won an MLA election on an AAP ticket. Meanwhile, AAP also won the Shalimar Bagh ward, previously held by BJP.

Dhirender Kumar won the Kalyanpuri ward by 7,043 votes. Vijay Kumar who won the Trilokpuri seat defeated BJP’s Om Prakash by 4,986 votes and Sunita Mishra defeated BJP’s Surbhi Jaju in Shalimar Bagh ward by 2,705 votes. Ram Chander defeated BJP candidate Rakesh Goyal by 2,985 votes in Rohini C. Interestingly, Congress candidate Chaudhary Zubair Ahmad defeated AAP’s Mohammad Ishraq Khan by 10,642 votes for the Chauhan Banger seat.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia congratulated party workers for the victory and said people were fed up with BJP and would bring in AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal’s politics of honesty next year.

On the other hand, BJP Delhi Chief Adesh Gupta said there was enough time for the party to improve its performance before the 2022 municipal polls. He said the party would introspect on the losses, especially the loss of the Shalimar Bagh seat that was “disheartening”.

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The post Delhi MCD by polls: AAP wins four seats, BJP none! appeared first on SabrangIndia.