SC to hear petition seeking safety of anti-CAA protesters at Shaheen Bagh today

The application, referring to the February 24 violence, said the modus operandi of the ruling party was to “deploy its cadre to crush peaceful protesters”.

Supreme Court interlocutors advocate Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran talk to the protestors of Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi on February 21, 2020.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear on February 26 an application for a direction to the Delhi police to ensure the safety of anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protesters at Shaheen Bagh, who are mostly women, in the light of violent clashes which rocked the Capital and left several dead in northeast Delhi.

A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph was urgently approached by Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Aazad, former bureaucrat Wajahat Habibullah and Bahadur Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday for urgent orders.

The court said it would take up the application on February 26 along with a pending Shaheen Bagh case in which the

court’s interlocutors have filed a report on the possibility of shifting the protest to an alternative site which would not hamper public and traffic movement.

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The application has sought the court to intervene and direct the police to ensure the safety of women at the protest site. The application, referring to the February 24 violence, said the modus operandi of the ruling party was to “deploy its cadre to crush peaceful protesters”.

The application referred to media reports about how a

BJP leader Kapil Mishra , who was known to instigate crowds into violence and vandalism, conducted a pro-CAA rally near Maujpur-Babarpur metro station just two km away from the peaceful Jaffrabad protest site on February 23.

The application said police had not acted on the complaints filed by people injured in the violence.

Violence had escalated over the day with incidents of violence and arson. Anti-social elements crossed the border from Uttar Pradesh in vehicles and entered Delhi to launch an attack on the residents of Delhi. Police refused to act, the application said.

It said “open threats” have been issued to protesters at Shaheen Bagh, saying they would be rendered the same fate as women protesters at Jaffrabad and Chandbagh.