Supreme court's big decision on Shaheen Bagh, a public place cannot be performed indefinitely

Delhi: Supreme Court has termed the road blockade in the name of CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh as wrong. The court has said that the administration should have taken action in this matter, which it did not do. The court has also expressed hope that such a situation will not happen in the future.

Limit of right to protest

In the judgment given about 7 months after the removal of the protesters from Shaheen Bagh, the court said that people have views in support and opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act. In today's era, the emotions on the social media are also intensified. Those who protested put their point through the demonstration. But it was not right to stop an important road for a long time.

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul has said, "It is a constitutional right of the people to express their voice under Article 19 1 (a) of the Constitution and to protest peacefully on any issue under 19 1 (b)." But this right has its limitations. Public space cannot be surrounded indefinitely. The movement of other people cannot be interrupted. In such a situation the administration should take action. Action should have been taken in this matter also. But it was not done. "

What is the matter

In Shaheen Bagh, Delhi, people sat on the road for about 100 days against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Millions of people were facing daily problems due to the blocking of an important road connecting Delhi to Noida and Faridabad. Advocate Amit Sahni and BJP leader Nandkishore Garg filed a petition in the Supreme Court against this.

Instead of instructing the police to act on the mob, the court thought it appropriate to remove the people by explaining them. For this work, 2 interlocutors Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran were appointed. Meanwhile, due to Corona, the normal functioning of the court was interrupted.

Finally, on September 21, the matter came up before a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul. On that day, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the judges that the demonstrators were removed from the road after the lockdown was implemented. After this information, the court considered the further hearing on the matter as unnecessary.

The petitioners were requested by the court to give some instructions to avoid such a situation in the future. The judges also recognized that there is a need for clarity on the balance between the right to protest in democracy and the right to free movement of people. Now this order has arrived.

Do not hide behind the court

During the hearing of the case, the Delhi Police had sought permission from the court to take action against the protesters. Commenting on it, the court said, "Our job is to decide the validity of an action." The administration should take action. Our support should not be taken for this. If action had been taken in this case, the petitioners would not have needed to come here. "