The Court recalled that it had issued an order in January 2019 in which it took note of the peculiar circumstances in the State of Kerala where calls for hartal have over the years come to carry an implied suggestion that the general public if they did not co-operate with those calling the hartal, might face threats of violence or actual violence.
The Court had, therefore, ordered that any person including any political party or other association of persons, that proposes to call for a general strike or hartal, should give 7 clear days’ public notice of its intention to do so.
“We make it clear that hartals/strikes called without adhering to the above procedure, would be deemed illegal/unconstitutional, and while the same would entail adverse consequences to the person/party calling for the hartal, the said person/party would also be liable, on the principles of strict liability, for any loss/damage caused to citizens and government pursuant to the call for hartal/general strike,” the Court’s 2019 order stated.
However, it noted that despite this unambiguous order, the PFI called a flash hartal yesterday, September 22.
Source: Barandbench
