India, July 3 -- The Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday quashed the externment of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) state general secretary Saeed Ahmad Abdul Wahid Chaudhary, observing that people cannot be externed for protesting against the central government's policies and raising anti-government slogans.

"How can such slogans become a ground for externment," justice Madhav Jamdar questioned the government.

A single-judge bench of Justice Jamdar remarked: "Citizens cannot be made slaves of the central government. Police are not servants of the chief minister or the prime minister. They are public servants. Are these cases registered against him because he is from some other party? Let him also switch sides and all such cases wi...