Supreme Court, on Wednesday, ruled that "public spaces and public places cannot be occupied indefinitely" and that "dissent and democracy go hand in hand", passing verdict on petitions against the anti-CAA protests in the national capital's Shaheen Bagh. "It is the duty of the administration to remove such blockades of roads, and failure to do so, warranted court's intervention," said Justice S.K. Kaul, according to Bar and Bench.
A batch of petitions were filed against the protests, which have since ended after the coronavirus pandemic. Advocate Amit Sahni had approached the high court seeking directions to the Delhi Police to ensure smooth traffic flow on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch, which was blocked by anti-CAA protesters on December 15. The high court had urged local authorities to deal with the situation keeping in mind law and order.
Separately, former Delhi MLA Nand Kishore Garg, through his counsel Shashank Deo Sudhi, filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking directions to authorities to remove the protestors from Shaheen Bagh. Restrictions were imposed on the Kaindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and the Okhla underpass, which were closed on December 15 last year due to the protests against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The plea said that various other arterial roads of Delhi were facing traffic congestion due the protest at Shaheen Bagh. Saying that the law enforcement machinery has been "held hostage to the whims and fancies of the protesters," the plea has sought laying down of guidelines for protests leading to obstruction of public place. "It is disappointing that the state machinery is muted and a silent spectator to hooliganism and vandalism of the protesters who are threatening the existential efficacy of the democracy and the rule of law and had already taken the law and order situation in their own hand," the plea said.
