India, July 3 -- The Bombay High Court's observations on Thursday during the hearing of the externment case of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) state general secretary Saeed Ahmad Abdul Wahid Chaudhary, in which it said that citizens have the right to protest and sharply remarked against "horse-trading", received backing from Shiv Sena (UBT), which recently saw six of its MPs join the Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

The high court said people cannot be externed simply for protesting against the central government's policies or raising anti-government slogans. "How can such slogans become a ground for externment?" Justice Madhav Jamdar asked the government.

While hearing the petition, Justice Jamdar ...