Telangana High Court allows Sharmila to resume padyatra

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday permitted YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) leader Y.S. Sharmila to resume her Praja Prasthanam Padyatra, which was stopped on November 28 after an alleged attack by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) workers in Warangal district.

The court, however, asked Sharmila to abide by the conditions imposed earlier while allowing her to resume the walkathon.

Hearing a lunch motion moved by Sharmila over denial of permission by the police, the court found fault with the action by the police authorities.

It sought to know from the government why permission was not granted after it had allowed resumption of the padyatra. It remarked that the political leaders were running around the courts for permission for padyatras.

The government counsel submitted to the court that Sharmila had made some objectionable comments after meeting the Governor at the Raj Bhavan. She had alleged that the state had been turned into Afghanistan.

The court observed that it is not appropriate to make such comments about the state. It, however, suspended the order issued by Warangal Police Commissioner and allowed Sharmila to resume padyatra.

BRS workers had allegedly attacked Sharmila's padyatra at Narsampet in Warangal district on November 28.

Protesting against some remarks made by Sharmila against the local MLA of TRS, the protestors had set afire her bus and pelted stones on other vehicles. Later, police arrested Sharmila as she refused to call off the padyatra in view of the tense situation in the area.

Sharmila, sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, was later shifted to Hyderabad. The next day, she was arrested again amid high drama while leading a protest march towards the Chief Minister's official residence. She was driving a car damaged in the attack and wanted to stage a protest in front of the Chief Minister's residence. The police, however, stopped her enroute. When she refused to come out of the car, the police towed it away to a police station.

The same day the High Court had allowed Sharmila to resume padyatra but laid down certain conditions.

However, when she tried to resume the yatra from the same place a few days later, the police denied permission citing violation of the conditions laid down while granting permission earlier.

As a mark of protest against the denial of police permission, the YSRTP leader sat on indefinite fast on December 9 at Ambedkar statue in the heart of the city. The police detained and shifted her to her residence at Lotus Pond. She, however, continued the fast.

As her condition started deteriorating, the police forcibly shifted her to a hospital in the early hours of December 11.

Sharmila, who was discharged from hospital on Monday, was prevented from leaving the house by the police on Tuesday when she was going to High Court.