All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora on Thursday contended before the Delhi High Court that citizens don’t need permission to hoist the national flag, while challenging a police notice asking her to execute a “peace” bond before a special executive magistrate.
While referring to the Delhi Police notice, which said that Bora hoisted the national flag without valid permission, her counsel submitted that citizens don’t need permission to hoist the national flag.
Justice Subramonium Prasad, who held the court on a holiday as the high court is shut for the Dusherra vacation, said he would pass his order on the petition on Friday. During the arguments, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing Bora, said there was nothing wrong in seeking regime change in a democracy. This was in response to an argument by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, representing Delhi Police, that drew the court’s attention to certain material, including a joint press conference attended by Bora where a statement on regime change was made.
He said it was stated in the joint sitting that “yeh regime change ki ladai hai and hum regime change kara ke rahenge” (this is a fight for regime change and we will get the regime changed).
To this, Sankaranarayanan said Bora had not said that and “there is nothing wrong with regime change in a democracy”. The law officer objected to this, saying, “You were part of that press conference. I will take exception to this. A regime change in a democracy will happen by votes and not by lumpen elements congregating in the nerve of Delhi”.
Bora, who has been at the forefront of protests against alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, has sought quashing of the notice and directions to the police not to take any coercive action against her.
Challenging the police notice, Bora’s lawyer argued that there was no application of mind or independent opinion by the SEM (Special Executive Magistrate) while issuing the notice and it was a mere cut-and-paste job that was done mechanically.