New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday ruled that public places cannot be occupied indefinitely for protests, which it said must be carried out in a designated area.
The judgment was pronounced by a bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on a petition filed by advocate Amit Sahni against the anti-citizenship law protests in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh area that went on from December 2019 to earlier this year. Scores of protesters, mainly women and children, had camped out at Shaheen Bagh in south Delhi for over three months as a mark of protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the NRC. They finally vacated the road after the government imposed the lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The petitioners had demanded a direction to the Delhi Police to clear the roads, forcibly if needed, and for restrictions on protests that obstructed public places.
The bench, which included Justices Aniruddha Bose and Krishna Murari, had reserved its verdict on 21 September, observing it would strike a balance between the right to protest and the blocking of roads. The bench also highlighted how social media channels can lead to a “highly polarising environment,” something that, it said, was witnessed in Shaheen Bagh. It said: “We live in an age of technology and development and social media often sees parallel conversations with no constructive outcome.”
According to the bench, what started out as a protest caused inconvenience to commuters.
“Administration ought to take action to keep the area clear of encroachments and obstructions,” the bench said, calling the administration’s inability to resolve the protest as “unfortunate.” It noted the court was forced to intervene because there was no action by the administration.
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Court to adjudicate legality of action, not meant to give shoulder to administration
The bench took into account various judgments, including regulation of demonstrations, to say that dissent and democracy go hand in hand, but protests must be carried out in designated areas.
“Such kind of occupation of public places for protests is not acceptable. Blockade of public places and roads to express dissent and causing inconvenience to people is not permissible in law,” it emphasised.
For the administration to wait for court orders to remove demonstrations in public places was not warranted, the court added. “In what manner the administration should act is their responsibility and [it] should not hide behind court orders to carry out administrative functions,” the bench said.
In the context of Shaheen Bagh, the court remarked, the authorities had failed to take suitable action. “The court adjudicates legality of action and is not meant to give shoulder to administration. Unfortunately there was no action by administration and thus our intervention,” the bench said.
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So blocking the roads is fine with SC but it should not be indefinitely… wow, good verdict… but the SC failed to examine why the roads were blocked indefinitely…the reasons behind it, how about the firings that took place in shaheen bagh? why is sc quiet on it? how about fake fools who intruded these protests in shaheen bagh? its all one sided verdict from sc once again, as usual. Same way authorities failed to clear the kar sevaks from the Babri Masjid site, had they done that, no demolition would;ve happened, the same sc’s verdict would have been different. just bcos there is no opposition party who is strong enough to challenge this ruling govt. everything is under their contract and every govt. institutes dances to their tune..
Is Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul the new Arun Mishra?!!
What’s the point of having a protest within your house compound?! Protests are held to be seen and to be heard! They are a means of bringing the people’s anger and anguish into the open. No doubt, the public is not be inconvenienced, but did the so-called ‘learned’ judges ask the administration why they blocked the alternate route to bypass the Shaheen Bagh protests?! Are they suggesting that the administration should have used force, or maybe fired pellets and blinded a few Dadis?! This judgement will surely be interpreted by an administration that sees peaceful protesters as anti-nationals, as a gun to go after everyone that opposes them!!
Also, why is the Hindu man who shot at protesters given bail, while the Muslim who did the same in jail?! Why are people who called for violence like Anurag Thakur and Kapil Mishra enjoying freedom, while those like Umar Khalid who asked for peaceful protests jailed under UAPA?! Is the judiciary blind or just conveniently looking the other way?! Why is Komal Sharma yet to be arrested?!!! Why wouldn’t the BJP do a Hathras – they know they’ll go scot free!!
Half-baked and a very weak justice. SC has trivialised the purpose and importance of the Shaheen Bagh protests by its verdict. When the stakes are as high as choosing between freedom and slavery, then the difficulties caused by such blockages should not matter at all. These difficulties when compared to the extreme hardships and loss of lives that resulted by clamping of the unplanned lockdown by the Government at a mere 3-hr notice are simply nothing.
Finally the Supreme Court opens up the way for the government to crack down on sundry protests which block roads and rails. Welcome to the new India where the citizen will not have to live at the mercy of the perpetually protesting masses.. Now us peaceful citizens can hold the government responsible for allowing protestors to stop public life. In China Xi would have simply shot all such protestors dead and thrown their bodies into Tibet.
Your scorn for the Shaheen Bagh protests, which though had a national significance but were spearheaded by the Indian Muslim women, are quite understandable. And that disdain seems to be so extreme and blind that while expressing it you forgot that the person you have quoted in your comment is the one who may or may not have thrown the bodies of the protestors into Tibet, but his army has certainly thrown the Indian soldiers into Galwan river from the height for them to die a dishonourable death- not very long ago.
If I give that woman 25 lakh rupees, she will start abusing and bashing up the Shaheen Bagh protesters. WE know a fake when we see one.