Police serves notices to Mumbai Bagh protesters under CrPC Section 149; demonstrators claim access to lawyers denied

The Mumbai Police on Saturday served notices under Section 149 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to those holding a protest against the amended citizenship law at Nagpada. The police served notices to several protesters, including women, under the provision which empowers police to take action to prevent a crime. The protesters also alleged that they were being denied access to lawyers and were made to sign the notices without legal consultations,  sources told Firstpost. [caption id=“attachment_7994081” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of a protest against Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC at Nagpada in Mumbai. PTI[/caption] A women’s protest, on the lines of the ongoing sit-in at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, is underway on Morland Road since Republic Day against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). The protest has been termed as Mumbai Bagh. The notice states that the sit-in is being carried out without the requisite permission from the police and adds that the police have tried to warned the protesters verbally. However, the protesters  willfully ignored the verbal warnings and continued their unlawful protests, it further states. The notice also says that the protest is causing inconvenience to the people residing in the areas and holding up traffic. “The responsibility for any possible law and order situation that may arise in the future lies on the protesters,” it says. Some protesters refused to accept notices, PTI quoted police as saying. According to PTI, the police also took a  ‘bond of tranquility’ from activist Feroz Mithiborwala who was present at the protest, he said. “We are doing all this for safety and security of the people who are protesting and to maintain law and order,” the official said, adding that the protesters should cooperate with police. “If any individual disobeys the orders, does not cooperate or argues with the police personnel doing their duty, we will register a case against him or her,” he added. The police were also video recording the protest, the official said. Earlier in the day, a case was registered against the organisers and around 300 women protesters  under IPC Sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) as well as under relevant sections of the BMC Act. The case was filed at the Nagpada police station by an assistant commissioner with the  Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), stating that that the civic body could not carry out construction work on Morland Road due to the protests, which also obstructed traffic. With inputs from PTI