New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said that a “protest cannot go on indefinitely” and those protesting against the CAA at Shaheen Bagh can’t block the road and cause inconvenience to the public.
“Protest has gone on for many days. It can’t be for an indefinite period. There must be an area identified for protest,” a bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice K.M Joseph said, and issued a notice to the centre and Delhi government on two petitions seeking eviction of the protesters.
“There is a law and people have grievances again-st it. The matter is pending in court. Despite that, some people are protesting. They are entitled to protest,” the Supreme Court bench said.
The apex court said that protest at Shaheen Bagh has been going on for long but it cannot create inconvenience for others.
“Can you block a public road? You cannot block it. Suppose there is a public park, you cannot hold protest there,” the bench said.
The court observations came in the course of hearing of two petitions — one by Amit Sahni and another by Nand Kishore Garg, a BJP leader — both seeking directions for the removal of protesters, who have been protesting since December 15, 2019.
The court declined to pass any interim order as urged by advocates for the petitioners. The court said that it can’t pass any ex-parte order without issuing notice to the government on the notice.
As lawyer for the petitioner pressed for some order, Justice Kaul said, “If you have waited for 58 days, you can wait for some more.”
