A writ petition was filed on Wednesday by three Congress leaders in the High Court seeking a directive to the State government and the State Police Chief to frame regulations for lathicharge and use of water cannons against protesters.
The petition was filed by K.P. Noushad Ali, secretary, KPCC, and two others. They said the police had resorted to unlawful lathicharge and use of water cannons against Congress workers during a protest meeting organised in connection with the gold smuggling case on the Malappuram collectorate premises on September 18. As a result, many Congress protesters were seriously injured. In fact, they were conducting a peaceful protest. The police had beaten the workers on their heads and eyes with lathis, the petitioners said.
They claimed that the meeting was organised in accordance with COVID-19 guidelines. There was no situation warranting the use of force. The police had also used bayonets to disperse the peaceful protesters. They had resorted to lathicharge and use of water cannon without warning. The police could only resort to lathicharge and water cannon use only against an unlawful assembly.
The petitioners also sought a directive to register criminal cases against the policemen who had used force to disperse the protesters.
