Supreme Court On Shaheen Bagh Hearing: Key Takeaways

The Supreme Court on Monday while hearing a bunch of pleas seeking removal of anti-CAA protesters from Shaheen Bagh said, ‘the protests cannot go on for an indefinite period on a public road’. Restrictions have been imposed on the stretch as also the Okhla underpass due to protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The plea sought laying down of comprehensive and exhaustive guidelines relating to outright restrictions for holding protests or agitations leading to obstruction of public place.

Shaheen Bagh: Here are key takeaways from Supreme Court hearing

• The Bench suggests that protests cannot go on for an indefinite period on a public road; Court says there must be identified areas for carrying out such protests.
• Justice Kaul observed: " There cannot be indefinite protests in a common area. If everybody starts protesting everywhere, what will happen".
• Supreme Court to hear the matter on February 17

Earlier, the top court had said that it will hear pleas after the Delhi Assembly elections as it did not want to ‘influence’ the polls. “We understand there is a problem and we have to see how to resolve it. We will take it up on Monday. We will be in a better position by then,” said a bench comprising justices SK Kaul and K M Joseph.

When an advocate representing one of the petitioners said that voting for Delhi Assembly polls is scheduled on February 8, the bench noted, “That is exactly why we are saying come on Monday. Why should we influence it?”.

The protests at Shaheen Bagh was one of the major issues in the recently-held Delhi Assembly Elections. Top BJP leaders were seen making provocative statements against the stir at Shaheen Bagh. Union Minister Giriraj Singh had sparked a massive controversy with his provocative tweet against the ongoing anti-CAA protests in Delhi’ Shaheen Bagh area. Senior BJP leader tweeted a clip and said that Shaheen Bagh has become the hub of making ‘suicide bombers.’ He termed the protests at Shaheen Bagh as an anti-national conspiracy. Along with the tweet, Singh had posted a video in which a woman could be heard exhorting the protesters for ‘qurbani’.