Presenting a draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for political rallies and road shows as well as public events which among others made mandatory crowd-linked security deposit, from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 20 lakh, before an all-party meeting, the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday commenced the process of finalising it before the 10-day deadline set by the Madras High Court.
In the aftermath of the September 27 Karur killer stampede which claimed 41 lives in the rally of actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president, Vijay, Chief Minister MK Stalin had announced that an SOP would be worked out in consultation with political parties and all stakeholders. A Division Bench of the High Court, headed by Chief Justice MM Shrivastava, hearing a PIL petition related to this, has directed the state government to present a draft SOP within 10 days. And hence, the urgency.
While a group of senior ministers represented the state government, both Stalin and Dy CM, Udhayanidhi, gave it a miss.
The draft presented at the all-party meeting, attended among others by the principal opposition AIADMK, said applications seeking permission for an event should be made at least 10 days in advance. It also has a proposal for refundable security deposit of Rs 1 lakh for a gathering of 5,000 to 10,000 people, Rs 3 lakh for a crowd up to 20,000, Rs 8 lakh for a gathering up to 50,000 and Rs 20 lakh for attendees exceeding 50,000.
Further, it had suggested that commencement of a rally should be delayed by more than 3 hours and organisers have to inform the authorities about the time of VIP arrival so as to plan security arrangements. Ensuring drinking water supply at the events had been made mandatory.
While the AIADMK called for a level-playing field for the ruling dispensation and the opposition, some parties which attended the meeting demanded that roadshows be banned altogether.