(1.) The petitioner, a practising Advocate and a self declared public spirited person, has filed the above writ petition seeking a writ of mandamus to the Chairperson of the Pala Municipality and the District Collector, Kottayam to interfere with the conduct of the meeting to be convened in the Kottaramattom Bus Stand on 11/3/2023. The allegation is that the meeting organised on tomorrow is by the ruling party and that the construction work carried on in the bus stand premises as also the conduct of the meeting does and would result in obstruction to the free ingress and egress of the private buses and the commuters, to the bus stop. It is argued that freedom to travel is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(d) of the Constitution and even the petitioner's right to move is curtailed. The learned Counsel also argued that in the last two or three days, there is complete restriction of entry into the bus stand and that the commuters are forced to wait in the scorching sun and the private bus operators are also finding it difficult to park their vehicles.
(2.) We also heard the learned Standing Counsel for the Pala Municipality, who submitted that while the construction activities are going on, there was some obstruction caused, but it did not prevent the complete ingress and egress into the bus stand. It is also submitted by the District Authorities that sufficient steps are taken to ensure that there is no obstruction caused to the commuting public.
(3.) We have seen the video clip produced as Ext.P1, which only shows a temporary construction carried on in a premises, which cannot be identified as the bus stand premises. The petitioner has not thought it fit to produce any video clip regarding the crowding of commuters on the road side, that too in the scorching sun and private buses crowding in the roads, thus causing obstruction to traffic. In fact, the contention is only regarding use of the bus stop being suspended for two or three days, which in fact does not restrict the freedom of movement of the citizen. There is no contention regarding the plying of buses being prohibited on account of the construction activity or the conduct of the meeting. Admittedly, the venue has been chosen after getting permission from the local authority and as we see from Ext.P2, it is specifically granted with a condition that no difficulties would be caused to the bus operators or the commuters. If any such obstruction is caused, it is for the local authority to either withdraw the consent or alert the District Administration regarding such obstruction, which could be averted with timely action by the jurisdictional Police.