Kerala high court directs PFI to pay 5.2 crore for damages

The high court of Kerala has directed the Popular Front of India (PFI) to pay 5.2 crore for the damages that have been caused during the bandh it called against the raids by the national authorities last week.

Lower courts were instructed by a division bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and C P Mohammad Nias not to grant bail to the accused till the damages are paid. It instructed the administration to name PFT state secretary A Abdul Sattar, who issued the bandh call, as a defendant in all legal proceedings arising from the violence that took place during the government shutdown.

“Life of citizen cannot be put in peril. The message is loud and clear. If anybody does it, this will be the consequence. You can have your organisation and demonstrations against any cause. The Constitution permits it, but no flash hartals,” the court said.

In 2019, the court said at least seven-day notice was needed for a hartal and declared a sudden shutdown illegal and unconstitutional. The court took cognisance on its own of the PFI’s bandh last Friday.

It said strict proceedings, including attachment of their properties, can be initiated if the damages were not paid. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation earlier informed the court that 58 of its buses were damaged and 20 employees injured in the violence during the bandh.