The Bombay high court on Thursday sought to know if there was a ban on celebrating 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan's birth anniversary, and directed the Pune rural police to decide on a plea that sought to hold a rally to commemorate the occasion.
The court said concerns relating to law and order cannot be a ground to deny permission for a rally.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and S G Dige was hearing a petition filed by one Faiyaz Shaikh, the Pune unit president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party, seeking a direction to the police to grant permission to hold a rally to commemorate the birth anniversaries of Tipu Sultan, freedom fighter Maulana Azad and also the Constitution Day.
As per the plea, the Pune rural police had refused to grant permission for the rally and asked the petitioner to celebrate the occasions at his private place and not in public place.
The police had claimed that such rallies would cause law and order problems.
The bench then asked if holding a rally for such events was prohibited. -- PTI