Shaheen Bagh hearing tomorrow
INTERLOCUTORS FILE REPORT IN SEALED COVER IN SC
The Supreme Court on Monday deferred to Wednesday the hearing to study interlocutors’ report on petitions seeking clearance of the road blockade continuing from the sit-in protests at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and allied matters.
Senior advocate Sadhana Ramachandran submitted in a sealed cover the mediation report by her and senior advocate Sanjay Hegde to the Bench of Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph that had appointed them last Monday to speak to the demonstrators. They visited the demonstrators for four days to speak to them.
When one of the petitioners sought a cop of the report, the Bench said it will remain confidential for the time being. "The purpose of an interlocutor is different...their report is only for our record." The Court had made it clear a week ago that it considering the constitutional challenge against CAA will not take away the right to protest of the persons who feel aggrieved by the law.
It had asked the interlocutors to pursue how the protect can go on without disrupting traffic. "The question is where and how protest can carry on without public ways being blocked. Our concern is more than this matter alone, as there may be persons of different points of view who may tomorrow seek to emulate this protest, such scenario only leads to chaotic situation. This must cease on public ways everywhere," the order had said.
The hearing is on the petitions filed by lawyer Amit Sahni (in pic) and Delhi BJP leader Nand Kishore Garg seeking clearance of the Shaheen Bagh protests that entered 72nd day on Monday. The protesters waiting for the Court's decision heaved a sigh of relief on two more before the justice on their agitation.
Former Chief Information Commission Wajahat Habibullah, a retired J&K IAS officer who is an intervener involved in the ongoing efforts to lift the blockade at Shaheen Bagh, filed an affidavit, telling the court that the protests were peaceful out of genuine apprehension of adverse impact of CAA and NRC on their lives. He underlined that most of the inconvenience was caused by the unnecessary barricading of the parallel roads by the police.
On Saturday, the road from Jamia to Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Faridabad in Haryana was reopened by the protesters on the request of the interlocutors. The protests, without any visible leader, are held mostly by women, who have been doing a round-the-clock sit-in. It was this leaderless agitation that put the interlocutors to difficulty in whom to talk.
A protester said: "We are waiting for the Supreme Court's decision on the matter. After the verdict, we will decide how we will take this forward.”