Citizen cannot be externed for protesting against govt: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Thursday came down heavily on the Mumbai Police for taking stringent action against a man for staging protests, as it cancelled an externment order issued against him.

The bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar was hearing a plea filed by 49-year-old Saeed Ahmad Abdul Wahid Chaudhary, the general secretary of the Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI). The petitioner has protested against various decisions of the BJP-led central government, including amendments to the Citizenship Act, in the past.

Appearing on his behalf, Advocate Payoshi Roy submitted that Chaudhary had been externed for a year following the registration of five FIRs against him, mostly for staging protests against the Centre.

He has also contested the Lok Sabha election and was externed from Mumbai and adjoining areas for a period of one year.

Upon hearing the submission, Justice Jamdar asked why slogans like 'BJP government murdabad' and 'Amit Shah murdabad' attracted the measure of externment, the order for which was passed by a deputy commissioner of police.

The single-judge bench also added that police officers were authorities answerable to the public and not functionaries of the ministers.

The judge orally remarked that citizens are entitled to protest and agitate against government decisions and the police cannot pass externment orders to banish them from their own city merely for protesting or sloganeering.

Chaudhary has been active in organising protests on various issues, including the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the demolition of Babri Masjid, the Gynavapi mosque controversy, alleged corruption in Waqf board, and hike in fuel prices.

His plea stated that externment proceedings began with a show cause notice on October 20, 2025 under the Maharashtra Police Act (MPA) on the basis of multiple FIRs registered against him between 2019 and 2024.

The cases were protest-related and section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which penalises deliberate disobedience of an order issued by a public authority by organising demonstrations, was invoked against him.

In December 2025, the Deputy Commissioner of Police at Chembur passed an externment order directing that Chaudhary be removed from Mumbai city and its suburban limits for a period of 12 months.

The order relied on statements in FIRs that claimed that his activities "created fear and posed a danger to public order." The order was upheld by the Divisional Commissioner of Konkan following an appeal.

Chaudhary challenged both the orders in the High Court, contending that he was kept out of his own locality during a period when he was required to campaign and do organisational work for his party for the civic body elections in Mumbai.

He claimed that the externment order misused a prevention power to punish democratic dissent on vague allegations like "his acts created a kingdom of terror," which, he claimed, was contradicted by local residents and shopkeepers.

Justice Jamdar concluded that the externment order was a malafide use of police powers and Chaudhary's activity cannot be a ground for his externment under MPA.

Accordingly, the bench cancelled and set aside the order while observing that it rested solely on his organising and participating in protests, and that such a basis violated his fundamental rights under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution.

- Ends