Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation’s new standard operating procedure for general body meetings came under protest on Friday after opposition leader Afrin Sayyed tore up the document inside the civic body’s meeting hall, objecting to restrictions placed on citizens seeking to attend proceedings.
The protest followed an earlier disturbance at the corporation’s October 16 general body meeting, where ruling Bharatiya Janata Party councillors allegedly assaulted citizens and journalists, according to the report. Some councillors had also alleged that people seated in the visitors’ gallery filmed the proceedings without permission.
Against this background, the civic administration prepared a special SOP four days before the November 13 adjourned general body meeting. The stated purpose was to prevent a repeat of the disruption during civic proceedings. The new arrangements placed controls on entry to the visitors’ gallery and introduced a more restrictive access process for members of the public.
The administration deployed enhanced security at the municipal corporation during Friday’s meeting. Because seating in the visitors’ gallery was limited, citizens were required to obtain passes before entering. The report also said that passes were checked at five points before visitors could reach the meeting hall.
The SOP imposed additional conditions on citizens entering the meeting area. Sayyed opposed these restrictions and accused the administration of limiting public access to the general body meeting. Her decision to tear up the rules inside the hall turned the access dispute into the principal confrontation of the day.
The episode highlights the competing requirements facing municipal meeting authorities after disorder inside a civic forum: maintaining security and order while allowing residents to observe decisions that affect local services, permissions and public spending. The report does not specify the full text of the SOP, the number of passes issued, or whether the restrictions will apply to future general body meetings.
The immediate administrative arrangement for the November 13 adjourned meeting included restricted gallery capacity, advance passes, repeated pass checks and additional entry conditions. Further details about any review or continuation of the SOP were not provided in the report.
