PROTESTS CAN’T BE ANY TIME, EVERYWHERE: SC JUNKS REVIEW PLEA AGAINST SHAHEEN PROTEST ORDER

NEW DELHI: The right to protest cannot be at any time and everywhere, the Supreme Court said in an order, dismissing a review petition filed by 12 activists challenging an October 2020 ruling of the top court terming the anticitizenship law protests held at Shaheen Bagh to be illegal.

A three-judge bench of justices SK Kaul, Aniruddha Bose and Krishna Murari stuck by its previous ruling that protests were meant to be held in designated places and the police will be within its rights to remove persons holding protest outside designated places.

Dismissing the review petitions in chambers on February 9, the judges held, “The right to protest cannot be anytime and everywhere. There may be some spontaneous protests, but in case of prolonged dissent or protest, there cannot be continued occupation of public place affecting rights of others.” The order was put out in public on Friday.

The court dismissed the petition filed by Kaniz Fatima and 11 others and declined the request made in the review petition to list the matter in open court.

The October ruling came in the context of the protests held against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA conducted at south Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh area. The protests started on December 15, 2019 and ended on March 24 last year.

The main ground for review was the vast powers the judgment conferred on police, leaving scope for its abuse. The bench having gone through the review petition and record of its earlier order said, “We are convinced that the order of which review has been sought, does not suffer from any error apparent warranting its reconsideration.”