PANAJI, Jan 11 (TOI): The state government has failed to extend the ban on Hindu right-wing organization Sri Ram Sena, despite the recommendations to extend the ban from both, the north and south Goa superintendents of police. This means Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Mutalik and his associates are free to enter the state.
On October 18, 2014, the state government had extended the ban on Sri Ram Sena for 60 days under Section 144 (4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, which came to an end on December 18, 2014.
As per the rule, if the state government does not extend the ban before the end of the previous ban, then it is deemed that there is no ban. On August 20, 2014, the Goa government had first banned the Hindu right-wing group from entering the state.
On the recommendations of the police superintendents the home department had moved the file seeking the extension of the ban to the chief minister's office. Government sources said it was decided there that the state will not extend the ban.
North Goa and South Goa SPs, Priyanka Kashyap and Shekhar Prabhudesai, in their respective reports submitted to the state government, have stated that there is every possibility of a law-and-order problem if the Sri Ram Sena members are allowed to visit the state.
The state government had directed superintendents of police of both districts to assess the situation and submit a report to the home department on the issue of deciding whether the ban on Sri Ram Sena should be extended in Goa.
In September 2014, the Sena had called for a ban on the tiatr 'Akantwadi Goeant Naka' and the arrest of its director Tousif Shaikh, alleging that Mutalik was portrayed as a terrorist in the tiatr.
In June 2014, Mutalik had announced his plan to set up a branch of the Sena in the state in September. Mutalik had earlier expressed his desire to curb Goa's "western culture of clubs and pubs". For over two years, now, he has been talking of setting up a branch of the Sena in Goa.