Illegal parking, urinating in open, public cooking: Mumbai Police ask Maratha quota protestors to vacate Azad Maidan

The notice comes a day after the Bombay High Court issued directives asking protesters to vacate all streets in Mumbai by noon, claiming that Mumbai was “literally paralysed” due to the indefinite Maratha quota stir led by activist Manoj Jarange Patil. Patil has been demanding that the Maharashtra Government issue a resolution stating that all Marathas in the Marathwada region are Kunbis.

The notice by the Mumbai Police also pointed out that some agitators tried to self-immolate, which also violated the rules under which permission was granted. Further, the notice mentioned that elderly people were made part of the protest, contrary to the guidelines, which stipulate not to include children, pregnant women, and elderly people in the protest.

The notice further mentioned that while permission had been given to bring only five vehicles from Wadi Bandar to Azad Maidan, nearly 5,000 vehicles were brought to Azad Maidan, the High Court premises, Mantralaya premises, etc in South Mumbai. They were parked illegally at several junctions in South Mumbai, such as Mahatma Gandhi Marg and Dadabhai Naoroji Marg, since August 29.

It stated that the protesters brought 40,000 people to the designated protest ground, as against 5,000 people, thereby violating the right to protest of other people.

The notice further said that the protestors “blocked the roads, behaved obscenely, played games like cricket/kabaddi on the road, and obstructed public transport”.

“They also climbed on the roofs of vehicles on the road, took off their clothes, performed crazy dances, climbed on the signal poles on the road, and shouted slogans. They also entered the city buses of the ‘BEST’ initiative in Mumbai city and behaved rudely and quarreled with the citizens of Mumbai. In this way, our protesters violated Rule No. 07 by doing illegal activities during their protest.”

The notice further mentioned that while participants in the protest were not permitted to cook any food or throw garbage in the specified area, protesters violated it “by cooking food, urinating, bathing, throwing garbage, etc. at Azad Maidan, as well as on the public roads adjacent to the ground and in public and private places.”

Due to this, many people have been inconvenienced to a great extent. “Although it was indicated in the permission letter that normal life and traffic are not disrupted, you and your agitators have not complied with it,” the notification read

Based on these conditions, the notice further said, “In that sense, since you have violated the terms and conditions of the permission granted to you earlier to protest… the permission sought for the protest as per the request application submitted by you on 01/09/2025 (Incoming No. 1135/9/2025 of this Police Station, dated 01/09/2025) is hereby rejected. Accordingly, you should vacate the Azad Maidan premises as soon as possible”.

The letter is undersigned by the senior inspector of Azad Maidan police station, under whose jurisdiction the ground falls.