WHO’S TO BLAME? A bus being vandalised during a bandh How many
times have you cursed a bandh because it brings normal life to a
complete halt? How many times have you been outraged by
incidents of violence —buses being set on fire, railway tracks
being damaged —all in the name of some political cause or
grievance or another? On April 16, a Supreme Court bench headed
by Justice Arijit Pasayat took a stern view of the way
agitations, bandhs and hartals often end up in large-scale
destruction of public property. Observing that the destruction
of public property has become “rampant,” the bench noted that
the leaders who call for bandhs are rarely hauled up for the
mayhem created by party workers. The apex court went on to
recommend that the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act,
1984, be amended so that the leaders of the party which calls
for the direct action can be held guilty of abetment of the
offence and made to pay for damages. According to Article 19 (1)
of the Indian Constitution, “All citizens sha