Delhi: A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Monday heard two Public Interest Litigations (PIL) filed against the protests going on at the Shaheen Bagh area in Delhi. People - mostly women - of Delhi have been protesting in the area ever since the new Citizenship Amendment Act was made known on December 16.
The PILs were filed by Dr. Nand Kishore Garg and Amit Sahni through their lawyer Shashank Deo Sudhi earlier last week, seeking the removal of protesters.
According to sources, the women of Shaheen Bagh have been floating a 24X7 hours protest ever since the CAA issue began. There reportedly is a tacit understanding that the shops in the vicinity will not have to pay rent for the coming six months and the protest, as such, is a crowd-funded affair and has captured the popular imagination of the anti-CAA protesters. Today, Shaheen Bhag is a symbol of the nation-wide protests and serves as an unofficial headquarters.
Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice KM Joseph, who heard the PILs, issued notices to the Central, Delhi government and police on the pleas. The bench noted that people had a complaint against a "new law" and that the matter was under the court's consideration.
"They are entitled to protest," noted the SC, but also said, "You cannot block the public roads. There cannot be an indefinite period of protest in such an area. if you want to protest, it has to be in an area identified for protest."
However, the Bench refused to be pushed in the matter and has listed the matter for another hearing on February 17 as the court needed "to hear the other side". When pressed more on this matter, the court observed, "you have waited for around 58 days. You may wait a little more."