A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court in Goa, comprising Justices F.M. Reis and Nutan Sardessai, on Monday issued notices returnable in three weeks to the Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Chief Secretary of Goa, Director General of Police, the Airport Director and the Deputy Commandant of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on a petition filed seeking a thorough probe into the BJP national president Amit Shah’s public meeting held at the Dabolim Airport in Goa on July 1.

The petitioner, Aires Rodrigues, sought directions to ensure that the rule of law is upheld by holding an inquiry to fix the responsibility and take action against the organisers and those responsible for conducting the meeting within the precincts of the airport “in total violation of law.”

Drawing the court’s attention that he addressed a joint complaint on July 2 to the Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Chief Secretary of Goa and the Director General of Police demanding an immediate inquiry, Mr. Rodrigues stated that as the authorities were acting as “caged parrots and taking no action, he is constrained to seek the intervention of the High Court.”

The petition also stated that this was probably for the first time ever a public meeting was organised by a political party within the high security precincts of an airport.

Submitting photographs of the meeting at the airport along with his petition, Adv. Rodrigues further stated that the BJP, on the one hand falsely claimed that necessary permissions for holding the meeting were obtained, and on the other, said the meeting was not pre-planned but a spontaneous one.

Adv. Rodrigues also submitted in his petition that the law enforcement authorities must have registered an FIR against the organisers, besides Mr. Shah and all the other dignitaries present.