The bench held that while the right to protest is a constitutionally protected right, it cannot be exercised in a manner so as to cause obstruction to other citizens. But it also held that “dissent and democracy go hand in hand”
India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI—The Supreme Court has said that the public spaces cannot be occupied indefinitely.
The verdict was pronounced by the apex court in a case pertaining to the balance between the right to protest and other rights in relation to protests that started at Shaheen Bagh in December 2019 and was lifted on March 24 in the wake of lockdown imposed to prevent outbreak of coronavirus pandemic. Women from Shaheen Bagh and other nearby areas had begun a sit-in on Kalindi Kunj-Nodia road near Sarita Vihar in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) which is considered a law to deprive Muslims of their citizenship.
Pronouncing the verdict, a comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Aniruddha Bose and Krishna Murari held that “dissent and democracy go hand in hand.”
In an important observation, the bench held that while the right to protest is a constitutionally protected right, it cannot be exercised in a manner so as to cause obstruction to other citizens.
While noting that it is the duty of the administration to remove such blockades of roads, the bench said that the administration’s inaction in this regard warranted the Court’s intervention.
The bench order states that the administration must carry out its function of clearing out obstructions from roads and carriage ways and not wait for the Court’s order to do so.
Two petitions were filed before the apex court in the light of the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh, for clearance of Kalindi Kunj Road that blocked traffic from Mathura road to NOIDA.
The first petition was filed by lawyer and activist, Amit Sahni, seeking directions for removal of the blockage at the protest site.
The second petition was filed by Nand Kishore Garg. He had sought the removal of protesters from the site on Kalindi Kunj Road.
While hearing the petitions seeking the clearing of the protest site at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, the Supreme Court had asked a team of interlocutors to hold talks with the protesters. The interlocutors – Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde and Advocate Sadhana Ramachandran – had submitted the report before the Court on February 26.
Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the protest site had to be cleared out earlier this year, after many months of a peaceful sit-in demonstration against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
While reserving its verdict in the matter, the Court had noted that a balance needed to be struck between the people’s right to protest and the right to free movement of others. The Court had said that while the right of people to protest is a valuable right in a democracy, that there are also other public rights such as the right to movement and mobility that exist, and a balance has to be drawn between these.
