Kerala CPI(M) meet on road: 21 party activists among 35 booked for impeding traffic by putting up stage on busy road at Vanchiyoor

Kerala police arrest 35, including CPI(M) workers, for obstructing traffic with stage; controversy ensues over conference venue location.

In deference to a Kerala High Court order, the Thiruvananthapuram City police on Wednesday (December 11, 2024) arrested at least 35 persons, including 21 Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] workers, on the charge of obstructing the free movement of vehicles and pedestrians by erecting an expansive stage across a busy road abutting the district court premises at Vanchiyoor in the State capital last week.

The accused in the case included CPI(M) Vanchiyoor area committee secretary Vanchiyoor Babu.

The Vanchiyoor police released the accused on station house bail after subjecting them to due legal process. 

The suspects also included those who provided lighting, seating and a public address system. The police booked them under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. 

The CPI(M) had set up the stage and laid out scores of seats for holding the party’s Vanchiyoor area conference. The conference venue was well-illuminated and covered by a public address system.

The construction of the stage and holding of the area conference on a much-used road had triggered a controversy. It figured prominently on conventional and social media, putting the CPI(M) in Thiruvananthapuram on the defence.

A public interest litigant had moved the court, accusing the CPI(M) of violating a 2010 High Court order banning public meetings on roads and roadsides, including pavements.