Patna HC questions state government’s decision to block NHs, SHs on Jan 21
Patna,(BiharTimes): The Patna high court on Wednesday asked the state government that under which law is it blocking the National Highways and State Highways for five hours on January 21.
The state government has ordered the closure of traffic between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM as the world’s longest human chain has been planned on that day.
The court has also asked the state government to explain as to why young school children have been asked to stand in human chain on that date.
The court was responding to the PIL filed by Shashi Bhushan, a lawyer. The court would hear the case on Thursday too.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Sudhir Singh issued the direction on a petition by a non-governmental body called Forum for Public Interest Litigation.
Arguing for the PIL, advocate Shashi Bhusan Kumar sought to know under what provisions school children are being involved in the January 21 programme and also national and state highways are being blocked across the state.
Principal Additional Advocate General Lalit Kishore appeared for the state.
The Nitish Kumar government has planned a human chain across the state on January 21 to reaffirm its commitment to the ban on consumption and possession of alcohol.
The human chain is expected to be 11,292km long, involving 20 million people, the longest in the world so far.
The chain would be formed for 45 minutes from 12:15pm to 1 pm on January 21 and Nitish will also be part of it, at the Gandhi Maidan here.
The government plans to capture the Rs 10-crore live with the help of five satellites, drones and helicopter-borne cameramen and videographers on the ground.
Patna,(BiharTimes): The Patna high court