On October 7, the Supreme Court gives the verdict that public places will not be occupied indefinitely for protests such as Shaheen Bagh protests and shall take place only in designated areas.
The court gave the verdict considering the petitions filed against the CAA protests as it resulted in blockages of the roads in December. The protests that began on December 15 with 300 women in the southeast Delhi. Slowly, it caused inconvenience to the people living in that area.
Shaheen Bagh became the centre point of the protests, hundreds of children and women came together and protested for over three months. However, on 23 March the event was stabilized due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The three-judge bench intervened into the matter as it is accountable for the government to resolve the blockage issue. They established that ‘democracy and dissent go hand in hand’ and public places are not designated for such protests.
The court further elaborated that the decision has been taken keeping in mind to all the protests and demonstrations that were held in the capital. On September 21, the court ruled that the fundamental right of protest should be in balance with the use of roads and have reasonable limitations. Due to the recent advancements in the case, it was anticipated that these petitions would not gain momentum, however, only one petitioner withdrew the plea.
Amit Sahni, petitioner argued that such protests should not hold the public place for public interest. However, the Shaheen Bagh protest continued for about 100 days, causing inconvenience to the nearby people. Sahni has also pleaded to the Delhi High Court to seek an uninterrupted traffic flow on the roads in the area.
The advocate of the intervenor revealed, some political party workers initiated the Shaheen Bagh riots. The public holds a right to protest but some people from a political background went to the Bagh and conceived such a situation that led to the riots, according to the reports.
The court wanted to look into all the aspects of the situation and sent some ‘interlocutors’ and they have proposed certain ways to improve the situation.
