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Why is it that the executive is usually not accountable for acting contrary to law? The recent judgment of the Bombay High Court quashing the externment of Saeed Ahmad Abdul Wahid Choudhary (July 2026) must be warmly welcomed. It recognises and gives teeth to the fundamental right to protest peacefully and without arms, guaranteed to all citizens under Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution of India, but it is still half justice. The High Court ought to have invoked Article 21 of the Constitution and done ‘complete’ justice.

What is externment? It is the banishment of someone from an area or region. Children read story books and comics about kings banishing a subject from the kingdom for some wrong committed by them. But did you know that banishment can also happen in today’s India? That the Maharashtra Police Act (MPA) authorises and empowers a state government official – in modern-day India – to exercise such a kingly power?

Sections 56 and 58 of the MPA empower an authorised officer to banish anyone from Mumbai, for up to two years, if he believes that “the movements or acts of any person are causing or calculated to cause alarm, danger or harm to person or property…”

This is precisely what happened to Choudhary – he was banished from Mumbai for one year by an order of the Deputy Commissioner of Police. The facts of this case and the decision of the Bombay High Court are of considerable interest and concern regarding the use of draconian powers available to the authorities, in derogation of fundamental rights.

Choudhary is a political activist in Mumbai belonging to the Social Democratic Party of India. He seems to have a history of participating in non-violent protests relating to government policies. Given his history of protests, by an order dated December 3, 2025, the Deputy Commissioner of Police externed him from Mumbai for a period of one year.

The externment order could have been challenged by Choudhary through a writ petition filed in the Bombay High Court but the law provides for a statutory appeal under section 60 of the MPA. Accordingly, Choudhary preferred an appeal before the concerned Divisional Commissioner on December 22, 2025.

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