The Supreme Court has said that there are certain duties associated with the right to protest and express dissatisfaction and this right can never be ‘anytime and everywhere’. According to the Bar and Bench, the supreme court stated this while dismissing the review petition on the anti-CAA Protest case in Shaheen Bagh area of Delhi.
A petition was filed by 12 people to reconsider the Supreme Court’s October 2020 decision on the matter, which was rejected by a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Anirudh Bose and Krishna Murari. The court gave this decision on 9 February, the order of which has come later.
Explain that the Supreme Court had said on 7 October 2020 that indefinitely occupying public places like Shaheen Bagh is not acceptable for the protests. The dharna protests in Shaheen Bagh began in December 2019 over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
In that judgment, the court said that the sit-in demonstration should be held at a designated place and that it is not allowed under the law to inconvenience large numbers of people by occupying public places or streets to protest or to violate their rights.
The Supreme Court has said in its February 9 judgment, “The constitutional scheme comes with the right to protest and express dissent, but with the obligation to perform certain duties.” The right to protest can never be held anytime and everywhere. There may be some sudden protests, but in case of prolonged dissatisfaction or protests, occupation of public places cannot be continued, affecting the rights of others.”
The petitioners seeking reconsideration had argued that the supreme court’s decision would create a situation where the administration would never engage in dialogue with the protesters, but would take action including prosecution against them.