DMK’s legal notice over ban on mock gram sabha

DMK organising secretary R Bharathi, in a notice addressed to Hans Raj Varma, Additional Chief Secretary, Rural Development Department, said the circular is an outcome of oppression and suppression of freedom of speech and expression by a registered political party and amounts to interference with the duties and responsibilities of an opposition party in the State. 

Pointing out that it is common knowledge in law that meetings conducted in consonance with gram sabha rules framed under the Panchayati Raj Act alone are accepted in law as gram sabha meeting, the legal notice said many instances are there for conducting mock assembly, mock parliament and so on and there is no legal prohibition or impediment to conducting such mock grama sabha meeting called the people’s gram sabha meeting. 

Further, the legal notice, on claiming that the circular would not bind them and that they would go ahead and hold such people’s gram sabha as per the announcement made by DMK president MK Stalin on December 24, sought the department to withdraw the circular forthwith which it claimed was in violation of the fundamental right or face legal action for misuse and abuse of power for such illegal and unconstitutional circular.