Lucknow, March 16 (IANS) The state government is bound by judicial orders to take stern action against demonstrations by political parties that disrupt law and order, a senior Uttar Pradesh official said Wednesday, a day ahead of planned state-wide agitation by the opposition Samajwadi Party.

"The Supreme Court as well as the high court had on several occasions in the past issued explicit directives to the state government to give top priority to public order," state Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh told reporters here.

"It has said that the government must take stern action against agitations or demonstrations by political parties which tend to disrupt the law and order. The courts had also prescribed maximum punishment in all such cases," he said.

The Samajwadi Party has announced simultaneous anti-government demonstrations across Uttar Pradesh March 17.

On Tuesday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motto cognizance of the reported kicking of a demonstrating Samajwadi Party activist by a senior police officer and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar too issued a notice to state police chief Karamveer Singh for the alleged manhandling of MP Akhilesh Yadav during protests last week.

"It is, therefore, imperative for the state machinery to take suitable action against those who were found indulging in any kind of disruptive activity on March 17, when the Samajwadi Party proposes to stage state wide demonstrations," Singh said.

"We surely do not dispute the legitimate right of political parties to demonstrate or agitate, but we are bound by law to initiate action against those who seek to take the law into their own hands," he added.

Making an appeal to opposition parties to observe restraint, Singh said, "On behalf of the state government, I would like to urge the opposition parties to refrain from indulging in any act that would cause inconvenience to common people."