HC comes down heavily on Anna

Coming down heavily on Team Anna’s agitation plans on Lokpal Bill, the Bombay High Court in Mumbai on Friday said it can’t allow “parallel canvassing” when parliament is debating the issue, observing that what may be a “satyagraha” for the group could be a “nuisance” for others.The court made these stinging remarks while rejecting Team Anna’s petition for a direction to Maharashtra government for allotting Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) ground for free or at concessional rates for Anna Hazare’s fast due to start on Tuesday.Refusing to interfere in the matter, a division bench of Justices PB Majmudar and Mridula Bhatkar said it could not ask MMRDA to grant exemption to Jagrut Nagrik Manch, affiliated to Hazare’s India Against Corruption. The court also said it could not come to the conclusion if the agitation was in public interest or politically motivated.Nevertheless, his activist supporters managed to get the MMRDA ground here at concessional rates for their agitation from Tuesday.The Maharashtra government-run MMRDA agreed to give its ground at concessional rates to Team Anna that would entail a saving of nearly Rs450,000 to the organisers, India Against Corruption member Mayank Gandhi said.Now, the organisers will pay around Rs680, 000 instead of the earlier demand of Rs1.18 million plus heavy deposits for the use of the ground, Mayank said.The daily rental of the ground in suburban Bandra-Kurla Complex area in posh central Mumbai is Rs380, 000.Earlier, Team Anna got a ticking off from the Bombay High Court, which they had approached challenging the high commercial rates — amounting to around Rs1.9 million, including a hefty deposit of around Rs700, 000 — for the use of the ground from Dec. 27 to 31.The court made sharp observations on the need for Hazare to hold an agitation “outside” when the Lokpal bill was being debated in parliament.The court also observed that if they wanted to agitate, then they must pay for the hiring charges for the venue and demanding it free was not proper.Ultimately, the court declined to interfere in the matter of the MMRDA’s fees and disposed of the petition.Team Anna has agreed to pay the concessional charges, which the government body agreed to levy.“We can’t allow parallel canvassing when parliament is seized with debate on the bill. You can propagate the bill sitting at home. Till now the bill has not been passed. No one knows what form and what features it will have. Is public debate permissible at this stage?” the court asked.The court also said it could not direct the government to open the gates to the enclosed area in Azad Maidan, another probable venue for the proposed three-day fast to allow Team Anna larger space for the protest.“It (the petition) is not judicable. If we pass an order allowing your petition then even we will be interfering with the functioning of parliament,” the court further said.The court said another ground for rejecting the plea was that the petitioner was not a registered social organisation, a mandatory requirement for seeking concession from MMRDA.Mayank said that following the court’s order, the IAC would now re-apply through another registered organisation to book the venue for the agitation scheduled on Dec 27-31.Meanwhile, Anna on Friday flayed as “improper” the decision by his activist supporters to move the court seeking concessions for the MMRDA ground for his proposed agitation demanding a strong Lokpal bill.“The decision by my activists was not correct. They are inexperienced and have committed a mistake. But now they have learnt a lesson,” Hazare told media persons at his village, Ralegan-Siddhi in Ahmednagar district, shortly after the court decision.“I am told that the MMRDA will give us some concessions and we are also getting donors to cover that cost. So, I have given the green signal for the venue,” said Hazare, who on Friday morning threatened to agitate from the jail if a proper venue was not given.