The Delhi High Court on Friday said that the protestors outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence should be evicted when the state disaster management authority has prohibited political and other gatherings in the city till December 31 due to the coronavirus pandemic, reported PTI.
The court was hearing a plea by the Civil Lines Residents Association, represented by Advocate Rohit Bhagat, against the ongoing protest outside Kejriwal’s residence on grounds that it was blocking the road and causing inconvenience to residents.
Mayors and local body representatives of the Bharatiya Janata Party have been staging a sit-in protest and indefinite hunger strike outside Kejriwal’s residence, demanding Rs 13,000 crore for civic bodies, which they claim, the state government owes them. The protest entered its 12th day on Friday.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva on Friday said that the court expects the police to take appropriate steps to implement the Covid-19 related directions of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority. He also pointed out that the provisions of Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code, usually used to curb any gathering of more than four people, has been imposed in the area near the chief minister’s residence.
The directions by the court came after it was informed by Delhi Police that it had provided copies of the DDMA directions to the protestors, but they were not moving from the site. The court will take up the case next on December 21.
Meanwhile in a separate case, the High Court sought responses from the Delhi government and police on pleas filed by Aam Aadmi Party MLAs Raghav Chadha and Atishi Marlena, challenging the denial of their request for permission to hold protests outside the residences of Home Minister Amit Shah and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.
Justice Navin Chawla asked Delhi government and police to submit their stand by January 14.
Additional Standing Counsel Gautam Narayan, representing the Delhi Police, said the permissions were denied based on orders passed by the DDMA.
Chadha and Marlena wanted to stage protests outside the residences of Shah and Baijal on December 13 to protest against the alleged misappropriation of funds by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, but they were denied permission. Both were detained by the police on December 13, along with some other AAP leaders, for attempting to protest at the two sites without the necessary permission.
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