New Delhi: The Delhi high court has refused to direct the Delhi Police to grant a no-objection certificate (NOC) for holding an ‘All India Muslim Mahapanchayat’ at Ramlila Maidan on October 29 in the national capital. The court said the event may spark communal tensions with several Hindu festivals around that time.According to Bar and Bench, Justice Subramonium Prasad said permission cannot be granted saying that the poster for the event suggests it has communal overtones and that the gathering will take place in the Old Delhi area, which, he said, is a communally sensitive area.A group called ‘Mission Save Constitution’ is behind the now-cancelled event. Although permission for the gathering was granted earlier by both the Delhi Police and Municipal Corporation of Delhi, it was later withdrawn.The court also upheld the decision to withdraw permission. In its order, the court said, “Between Navratri and Diwali, there are several festivals like Karvachauth, Dhanteras, etc. The period from the end of Shraddh to Diwali is extremely auspicious for the Hindu community. Though the event has been styled as a purpose for educating the people about their rights, the tenor of the posters indicates that they can have communal overtones which can result in an increase in communal tensions in the Old Delhi area which is a sensitive area as people from different communities live there and the communal violence in the area is not unknown.”The court said the petitioner organisation can hold its event after the festivals are over and can approach the authorities afresh for permission. It told the authorities that they could take a call regarding permission depending upon the merits.Mission Save Constitution has advocate Mehmood Pracha as its national convener; Wajahat Habibullah, former chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities, as its principal advisor; Justice B.G. Kolse, former high court judge, as its advisor; and Islamic cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza is associated with the organisation.
