AI
Clause 4.1 identifies Freedom Park as the designated venue for protests in Bengaluru. The 2021 order does not expressly prohibit protest marches or designate Freedom Park as the only possible venue. What does police order say? However, it also empowers the police commissioner to designate another suitable location in the city, depending on the situation. The licensing authority may determine the number of participants permitted at Freedom Park based on the nature and duration of the programme and the venue’s capacity. Not necessarily in every circumstance. Instead, it identifies Freedom Park while retaining the police commissioner’s discretion to designate another suitable location. The debate centres on balancing traffic management and public convenience with the constitutional right to assemble peacefully and express dissent. For now, Freedom Park remains Bengaluru’s designated dominant protest venue. Whether, and under what conditions, the police commissioner exercises the discretion to permit demonstrations elsewhere remains central to the controversy.
The practice stems from a suo motu case initiated in Karnataka high court in 2021 over the impact of demonstrations on traffic and the rights of non-participants. On March 3, 2022, a division bench of HC passed an interim order directing the state govt to ensure that protests, processions and similar activities were held only at Freedom Park, Gandhinagar, and nowhere else in Bengaluru. Bengaluru has largely confined protests to Freedom Park for years. The court also directed that such activities be organised without adversely affecting traffic, particularly during rush hours, and that action be taken wherever traffic was disrupted.