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Sri Ram Sene Chief Pramod Muthalik Will Not Be Allowed To Enter Goa, Rules SC

The Supreme Court Has Called Out The Sri Ram Sene For Its Moral Policing
Leader of the radical Sri Ram Sena, Pramod Mutalik greets his supporters in Bangalore on February 4, 2009. Mutalic, who was arrested for his role in the attacks on women in Mangalore city, is out on bail and attended a meeting of the right wing Sri Ram Sena to discuss a plan of protest action around the forth coming Valentine's day celebrations. AFP PHOTO/Dibyangshu SARKAR (Photo credit should read DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images)
DIBYANGSHU SARKAR via Getty Images
Leader of the radical Sri Ram Sena, Pramod Mutalik greets his supporters in Bangalore on February 4, 2009. Mutalic, who was arrested for his role in the attacks on women in Mangalore city, is out on bail and attended a meeting of the right wing Sri Ram Sena to discuss a plan of protest action around the forth coming Valentine's day celebrations. AFP PHOTO/Dibyangshu SARKAR (Photo credit should read DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images)

India's Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea by Pramod Mutalik, the chief of the right wing, fringe outfit Sri Ram Sene party, and said the Bombay High Court was justified in restraining him and his associates from entering Goa.

"The order might have been passed to maintain peace in Goa," PTI quoted a bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy as saying while rejecting Mutalik's plea.

"Goa people will take care of their interest. What are you doing? You people are simply doing moral policing," it said, adding that "Sri Ram Sene activists barge into a pub and beat up boys and girls."

"We are sorry for the time being. Come after six months," the Bench said.

Mutalik had moved the apex court challenging the order of the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court which on July 2 had refused to interfere with the prohibitory order imposed on him and his associates by the state police.

Muthalik and his band of followers had attacked pub-goers in Mangalore in 2009 and was banned from Goa in August. His followers had sparked nationwide anger and outrage after TV channels showed them dragging women out of the pub by their hair, according to reports.

The right-wing leader had also questioned the prohibitory order passed under section 144 of the CrPC contending that it was illegal and repeatedly passed without giving him a hearing. He had sought ex-parte permission to visit Goa.

Challenging the high court order, he had claimed that it was violation of his fundamental rights and that the HC order was clearly erred in law and in facts of the case.

His petition had said the repetitive prohibitory orders passed by the Goa government and district magistrates of South and North Goa are "illegal and without jurisdiction".

The first order restraining Mutalik from entering the state was issued by the district magistrates of North Goa and South Goa on August 19, last year for 60 days. The orders were subsequently extended further.

Muthalik argued that leaders like All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi or Binayak Sen have not been banned from Goa. He alleged that police chiefs who ordered the ban on Sene in Goa were prompted by “corrupt motives to appease political masters". (With PTI inputs)

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.