HC to hear Cong plea on October 3 for permission to hold rally at Shivaji Park

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday said it would hear on Thursday the petition filed by Mumbai unit of Congress against the decision of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to refuse it permission to hold a rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on December 28.

Congress' lawyer Rui Rodrigues said the rally, which will mark the party's foundation day, would be attended by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi, among others, so the preparations were needed to start well in advance.

The Judges said they would hear the matter on October 3. Advocate Dharmesh Vyas, Mumbai Congress general secretary, has filed the petition. Mumbai corporation had rejected the party's application in view of the High Court's earlier order banning rallies at the sprawling ground in central Mumbai, which falls in `silence zone'.