Shaheen Bagh case: Supreme Court says protests can’t go on indefinitely in public area

The Supreme Court on Monday notified Delhi Police and the administration while hearing a case on Shaheen Bagh, and said that protests cannot continue indefinitely in a public area.
Two petitions were filed demanding the removal of the protesters from the Shaheen Bagh area alleging that it was causing inconvenience to people, including office and school goers. The protest in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh is being held against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The protest, which is being mostly led by the women, has been going on for over 50 days now.

The court said that the matter will be heard again on February 17 but did not pass any interim order for this period. The court said that it wants to listen to the protesters before passing an order.

The matter was heard by a bench of Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph. Justice Kaul remarked, “protests can go on, but it should be done in an area which is designated for protests. You cannot inconvenience people”. He added that there cannot be indefinite protests in a “common area”. “If everybody starts protesting everywhere, what will happen?” he asked.