Petitioner reminds SC of Shaheen Bagh verdict, in case of Farmers' Protests
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New Delhi, Jan 9: Petitioner Rishabh Sharma, who filed the plea to remove farmers from Delhi borders has filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court on Jan 9 and urged for immediate removal of protesting farmers from the borders claiming the agitation is in violation of its verdict on Shaheen Bagh protest. Sharma said the SC allowed protests subject to public order but was silent on inconvenience to commuters. Such permission is against the court's Shaheen Bagh judgement.
On Dec 30, Petitioner Rishabh Sharma had filed a petition had filed a plea before the Supreme Court saying that the commuters are facing difficulties due to the road blockades and the gatherings might lead to an increase in the number of COVID 19 cases.
The petitioner has stated in his statement that "If the farmers are allowed to continue the protest by blocking the public roads, it will not only contradict the court's own judgement in the Shaheen Bagh matter but also cause hardship and inconvenience to the common citizen as the increase in the raw material cost will automatically increase the cost of finished goods."
He further mentioned the newspapers citing farmers agitation shot up the raw material price by 30 per cent and incurred a daily loss of Rs 3,500 crore.
The Supreme Court regarding the Shaheen Bagh verdict had said that the people have a fundamental right to protest against a law but the blocking of public roads is a matter of concern and there has to be a balancing factor. The bench had said that democracy works on expressing views but there are lines and boundaries for it. During the judgement the bench had stressed that people have a fundamental right to protest but the thing which is troubling us is the blocking of public roads.
In the case of Shaheen Bagh, the bench had said that the protestors have made their point and the protests have gone on for quite some time and hence the anti-CAA protesters at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh cannot block public roads and create inconvenience for others. However, the SC is not taking any similar stand in case of farmers' protests where the arising problems still remain the same. The petitioner has put this point forth the Supreme Court.