In response to a petition filed against the MCD campaign, the Supreme Court ordered the petitioner to ‘better’ go to the High Court.
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to intervene in the ongoing anti-trespassing campaign by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) in Shaheen Bagh and adjoining localities.
In response to a petition filed against the MCD player, the Supreme Court ordered the petitioner to “better” go to the High Court. The Supreme Court issued the order while responding to a plea by CPI(M) against the demolition of buildings in the Shaheen Bagh area of South Delhi. “Let those affected be brought to justice,” the Supreme Court said.
The order came even as protests erupted in Shaheen Bagh on Monday, with hundreds of people, including women, opposing the SDMC’s anti-trespassing campaign as bulldozers rolled through the area with many police present.
After the protest, SDMC officers, who were part of the anti-intruder operation, returned with bulldozers without conducting the exercise, an official said.
Protestors held slogans against the BJP-led and central government-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), demanding a halt to the action. Some protesters also faced bulldozers in an attempt to stop the exercise.
Earlier in the day, Aam Aadmi Party and Congress leaders also arrived at the site and held a dharna. The protest also caused heavy traffic jams at Shaheen Bagh, Kalindi Kunj, Jaitpur, Sarita Vihar and Mathura Road among others. SDMC Central Zone Chairman Rajpal Singh told PTI that the illegal buildings could not be removed due to the protests.
In December 2019, Shaheen Bagh was at the center of protests and sit-ins against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The sit-in was canceled in March 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic swept through the city.
Last month, an anti-interference operation by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation in the Jahangirpuri area, which culminated in violence between two communities on April 16, drew widespread criticism. The Supreme Court had to intervene to stop the trial there.
Singh said suppressing interference in any field is a mandatory task of citizenship. “The organized protests are politically motivated. We will do our best to eliminate interference. Our bulldozers and trucks are still there (in Shaheen Bagh),” Singh said.
Senior police officers were on hand with their staff to provide security for SDMC officers to carry out the anti-trespassing operation in the area. Paramilitary forces have also been deployed to deal with the situation, officials said. As South MCD officers bulldozed into Shaheen Bagh, some locals began removing their “illegal buildings”.
Among those detained by police were Delhi Congress leaders, including deputy chairman of the party’s media cell, Parvez Alam. Delhi BJP leader Adesh Gupta has criticized Congress and the AAP for turning “against the anti-encroachment movement” in Shaheen Bagh.
The anti-encroachment campaign plan comes after Gupta wrote to the mayors of southern and eastern societies on April 20 demanding “the elimination of aggression by Rohingyas, Bangladeshis and anti-social elements” in their areas.
An action was planned in Okhla and Jasola last month but could not be carried out due to the unavailability of police forces, said Singh, SDMC’s central zone chairman.
On May 10, anti-intruder action will be carried out near Gurudwara Road near New Friends Colony, while on May 11 at Meharchand market in Lodhi Colony near Sai Baba Mandir and near JLN metro station, a- he declared.
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