Bengaluru: City Police has banned All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimin (AIMIM) leader and MP Asaduddin Owaisi from entering into the city for a week from Thursday onwards and participating in, or speaking at any public meeting or function.
In his order, Commissioner MN Reddi has also prohibited him from participating or speaking at any public meeting or function directly or through audio-visual or any other media in the city.
Reddi said he has banned Owaisi by using the powers vested on him under section 144(3) CrPC.
Owaisi, who in the past has been accused of making hate speeches, said he would challenge the ban in court.
AIMIM had rescheduled its public meeting at Chota Maidan here on February 21 which was to be addressed by Owaisi and other leaders of the Hyderabad-based party.
Earlier, the Bengaluru Police had allowed the party to hold the rally on February 8 but later withdrew the permission.
AIMIM had challenged this in the Karnataka High Court.
Subsequently, the Bengaluru Police told the court they would allow the AIMIM meeting if the party made an application to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (East Division).
Thereafter, the AIMIM approached the DCP (East Division) for permission for the February 21 meeting.
However, a police team today visited AIMIM headquarters at Darussalam here and served the notice to the 45-year-old politician, issued on behalf of Reddi.
Such precautionary measure are not new to the Karnataka capital. Bengaluru police had earlier also banned right-wing group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Pravin Togadia from entering the city between February 5-11, on grounds of apprehension that his provocative and inflammatory speeches would cause breach of peace.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Delhi court ordered registration of an FIR against Owaisi for allegedly giving hate speech last year.
Metropolitan Magistrate Muneesh Garg directed the Delhi Police to lodge a criminal case against Owaisi, the MP representing Hyderabad, under relevant provisions of the IPC on a private complaint.
The court passed the order on the complaint of Ajay Gautam, social worker and a priest, seeking lodging of an FIR against Owaisi for his alleged hate speech in June last year.
The complainant said that on June 5, 2014, he had read an article in the online edition of a newspaper in which Owaisi had allegedly delivered a speech against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He said he had found it was not the first time that the leader had delivered "hate speech and created terror and fear" in the minds of one community.
The complainant sought lodging of FIR for the alleged offences of promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, criminal conspiracy and intentional insult with intent to provoke with breach of peace under the IPC among other things.
(With PTI Inputs)
